Beautiful Green Beasts
by thejammys
Summary: Even though it took 15 years to make it official, Gai had always been Lee's father.


_Fifteen years ago_

Gai and Lee remember their first meeting differently.

Lee recalls a tale of a young ninja academy student who was struggling in the training field, feeling like a failure and hating himself for it, when a handsome man appeared and changed his life. There was a speech, a practiced pose, and a smile that Lee would chase after for the rest of his life. To Lee, that day was the beginning of his career as a ninja. From that moment on he chose to push forward and reject the cynicism and doubt of others. The blindingly white smile and foolhardy optimism of a thumb pad facing him had given Lee something he had never appreciated before.

 _Hope_.

Decades later, even when Lee was a celebrated Jounin and Taijutsu master, he would think back to that day and say that he owed everything he was to Gai-sensei. If that man had not come upon him and injected Lee with the brilliance of youth, he may well have given up on his career as a ninja.

Gai remembers their first meeting differently because that was not their first meeting.

He would be very surprised if Lee recognized that day for what it was, but it was actually their third time crossing paths. The first time Lee was only four years old, and still a baby in Gai's eyes; though Gai was barely an adult himself at the ripe age of seventeen.

Gai had returned to Konoha in the wee hours of the morning from an A-rank mission that had taken him well over a month to complete. In his desperation to spend not even one more night away from his own bed, Gai had sprinted as fast as he could for two days just to get back to Konoha. His beloved green uniform had taken a whipping and was cut in various places over his body, revealing bruised and bleeding skin beneath.

The guards had greeted him sleepily when he finally slowed his pace and jogged past the front gates. God, it felt good to see this village again. Gai could not _wait_ to get home, into clean clothes and just collapse into his bed. The wound in his left arm was particularly nasty and it would probably be best to head to the hospital first, but Gai was just so _tired_.

Unfortunately, the second he entertained the thought of putting the hospital off until tomorrow, the abused muscles in his arm gave a throb that almost made him cry out.

 _Alright fine, you shitty muscles – hospital first_.

He could probably sleep through stitches anyway and get a jump-start on the marathon knock out he was so looking forward to. If he was lucky, he would be admitted immediately and would be discharged within the hour.

But fate was not on Gai's side it had seemed, and as he'd rounded the corner away from his comfy bed in pursuit of medical attention, a group of men standing between two buildings caught his eye. They seemed to be crowding around something, and from the small cries Gai could hear, it was probably a child.

Gai didn't use the word 'hell', and the thoughts that fueled him towards that group and moved his arms to begin knocking out men left and right before even waiting to assess the situation were probably full of nobility and youthful determination to protect the innocent, but when Gai remembers this night he remembers the fear that spiked through his chest and the words 'oh, hell no.'

He had been right. The men were crowded around a child, though their intentions were unclear. From their headbands, Gai could see they were from the hidden village of Mist- _the wretched place I just came from -_ and that didn't bode well for the kid.

Things were going poorly between their countries. The whole reason Gai had been sent to there was to free fire country citizens who had been taken hostage by rogue bandits in the hidden village. Gai wouldn't even call these men shinobi, they had no honor and no right to the title. The innocent civilians had been traveling for trade purposes and were now being kept as hostages for upcoming negotiations with the fire country.

 _A poor way to begin talks_.

And now, to corner an innocent child? These men were disgusting. Undoubtedly the young thing now cowering and crying before Gai would have met the same fate as those merchants. This child would have been taken back to a dangerous land, kept in miserable conditions, and held until the Hokage could set things right

It made Gai sick.

Konoha should be a safe village. They had a kind, strong leader, powerful shinobi, and caring citizens. Children should not be afraid to go out after dark. At three a.m. and unaccompanied by an adult was another issue, but it made Gai upset all the same.

Actually, come to think of it, where were this boy's parents? Gai looked around as though expecting them to pop out from behind a wall, apologize for not intervening sooner, and whisk their son away. But when no such irresponsible figures appeared, Gai knew he must take responsibility for getting this kid home.

He slowly got down onto one knee and extended a hand to the boy in front of him. He considered himself to be good with children, despite having no real practice with them outside of the occasional academy lesson he had helped with. Even then it was usually just a performance of the awesome might of martial arts and not so much _interacting_ with the students…but still. Gai liked the theory of children. They were youthful buckets of energy and possibility. If they had the right teacher, they could take on the world and become incredible ninjas who moved the world forward in a bright and beautiful direction. Youths were the most valuable asset in any village – they were the most precious things, and the most promising. Gai hoped his desire to protect and be kind showed on his face as he tried a bright smile.

"It's alright," he'd said kindly. "Those men can't hurt you now that I'm here."

A small chubby fist wiped tears out of round, dark eyes, and Gai almost fell over with shock when the fist moved to reveal eyebrows Gai could've sworn made them family.

This child could not have been more than four or five years old, and had the most spectacular eyebrows Gai had ever seen. Even when Gai was young – hell, even when his own _father_ was this young, neither of them had had such spectacular things framing their eyes. Gai would have laughed, but it didn't seem appropriate given that this kid hadn't stopped crying despite the bad guys being unconscious. He didn't answer Gai, but instead seemed to curl into himself more.

Did this kid not trust him? Shouldn't the likeness between their eyebrows tell him that Gai was an ally

From what Gai could see, the child didn't appear to be hurt. But whether or not he had been struck, this boy was upset.

"What's your name?" Gai tried. If this kid didn't say anything Gai was going to take him to the hospital as well.

There was a hiccup and then a soft, "Lee."

Gai smiled. Now they were getting somewhere.

"Nice to meet you, Lee. I'm Maito Gai," he answered, turning his outstretched hand to the side in offer of a shake.

Lee blinked his watery eyes at Gai, then looked down at the hand in front of him, and back up at Gai.

After another few seconds of careful consideration, Lee seemed to decide that this man was not going to hurt him, and slowly reached out his own tiny hand to accept the shake Gai was offering him.

"Nice to meet you too…" he said so quietly it almost came out as a whisper.

Such a polite young man! In another situation Gai would have praised his manners and given him a hearty clap on the back. Ah hell, why not do it anyway.

His clap was a little too enthusiastic and since he had let go of Lee's hand to give it Lee flew forward a bit, but the praise had been well received and at least now Lee was smiling.

"Young man, where are your parents?" Gai asked, feeling very proud and _very_ good with kids for coaxing a smile out of Lee despite their circumstances.

The tiny smile Gai was so proud of faded just as fast as it had come. Lee's eyes quickly moved to the ground, as though he were ashamed.

"I don't have any."

Oh god.

The pain in Gai's arm was all but forgotten but his brain seemed to think he still needed to feel it and shifted it over to his heart.

"So you…where do you live?" Gai didn't really know what to say, but this seemed like a safe question.

"The orphanage."

Gai winced. He had been young when he was orphaned and understood all to well why Lee said this in such a low tone. Lee wasn't ashamed, he was sad.

Gai had been spared having to go to the orphanage because he was already enrolled in the academy when his father died. While the academy was not built to house all the students, and it didn't make sense to take the children away from their parents full-time when they were that age, there were apartments for the teachers, for visiting speakers, and for those children who didn't have parents to go home to.

Konoha was a small enough village that Gai thought there shouldn't have been a need for an orphanage. He had traveled to larger cities, those without ninjas, and had seen exactly what happened with urban sprawl and expansion. As a population grew, so to did the number of children without parents. Konoha was prosperous village, and while it had flourished beyond the expectations of those who had founded it, it was still comparatively small. But Konoha was a village of ninjas – ninjas with children, and though it was horrible, sometimes ninja parents went away on missions and didn't come back.

Civilian children did not often end up at the orphanage if they lost their parents because there were usually other family members to help take care of them, but ninjas were usually in the company of other ninjas. Occasionally one might drop out of their line of work to take in and raise a child, but that involved more than just a personal sacrifice- Konoha needed its ninjas.

Which meant Konoha also needed an orphanage. Gai didn't know much about it, but he did know that there were adults there on site to supervise and protect the children twenty four-seven. In fact, he seemed to remember that there were a few shinobi posted there to assist when the regular staffers went on vacation.

Perhaps this was one of those times. If that was the case, that meant that ninjas were responsible for letting this child out of their sight and allowing him to almost be kidnapped.

The Hokage would be hearing about this.

But before he could talk to the Hokage, tell off a ninja, or get Lee back to his bed, Gai needed to take care of these unconscious excuses for humans. He didn't want to risk going back to the main gates and fetching someone in case any of the men woke up and decided to run away, but he couldn't wait for someone to come by either. Doing the only thing he could think to, Gai bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood and summoned an S.O.S. turtle.

He didn't notice that he had completely captured Lee's attention.

The turtle happily announced himself by chirping "turtle!" a few times and then waited for Gai's instructions.

"Find Kakashi. I need his help," Gai instructed.

His summon named itself again in the affirmative and zipped off into the night.

Kakashi was a busy man, and if his ANBU duties prevented him from coming to Gai's aid then he would understand – thankfully the turtle would too, but if he wasn't too busy then he was certainly the best equipped person Gai knew of to take care of a bunch of rogues on his own. Kakashi might leave them wishing Gai had stayed.

With that done, Gai wiped the blood off of his thumb onto his already ruined uniform and turned back to Lee. He almost jumped when he saw how wide and bright Lee's eyes were. He almost looked…

 _Excited?_

"You're a _ninja_ ," Lee breathed, eyes practically glowing with delight.

Well this was a pleasant surprise. Gai assumed that most children at the orphanage would resent ninjas since it was usually that line of work that took away their parents, but Lee looked downright star struck.

Gai leaned back to put his hands on his hips and proudly puffed up his chest. "That's right I am! In fact, I recently became a Jounin!" he declared.

" _Wow!_ " Lee mouthed excitedly. His entire demeanor had changed. The tears were gone and he was now reaching for Gai's uniform as though it was made of fire but he wanted to touch it anyway.

"Do all ninjas wear these?" he asked, brushing the pads of his fingers against Gai's orange leg warmers.

Gai felt a flutter in his chest that might have been pride, but felt like adoration. "Only the really strong ones."

That seemed like an extremely impressive answer to Lee, who's mouth turned into a tiny 'o' as he continued to touch the orange fabric that he had no way of knowing was exclusively worn by Gai, regardless of how strong the other ninjas were.

"Are you interested in becoming a ninja?" Gai asked.

His fingers continued to admire Gai's uniform, but Lee nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, one day I am going to become a strong shinobi and have lots of friends!"

That both warmed Gai's heart and gave him pause. Usually when children declared their intentions of becoming shinobi it was in the company of…their friends. They would make grand proclamations about their inevitable strength and sure to come accomplishments. Then they would run off together to play make believe with their dreams for the future. That was how it should be for children.

But even Gai knew better than to bluntly ask 'do you not have any friends now?'

Unfortunately, what his compromise was not much better.

"Were your parents shinobi?"

Dammit, Gai.

Lee didn't seem upset by the question, though. His tiny hands had moved to Gai's sandals and were now tracing the edges of the blue material covering his toes. He shook his head absent-mindedly and kept his eyes focused on what his fingers were doing.

Civilian parents? Then why hadn't someone taken him in? Why hadn't someone seen this precious cupcake and immediately scooped him up and taken him home?

Lee looked up at him and grinned wide. "What else can you do?" he asked excitedly, shifting onto his knees to get closer to Gai.

 _Precious cupcake, indeed_.

Hmm…what would be the most impressive thing to show a four-year-old orphan who was not ten minutes ago attacked by a group of rogue ninjas hmm…

Aha!

If Lee thought the tiny S.O.S. turtle was cool, then certainly-

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Gai yelled, slamming his freshly bloodied hand onto the ground with the appropriate seal.

"Ha!" Lee cried out happily when Ningame appeared.

The giant tortoise blinked sleepily and surveyed the area before him. "Gai, why have you called me here so late? What's the danger if you've already taken everyone out?" he croaked.

"I wanted you to introduce you to someone special. Ningame, this is Lee. Lee, this is one of my most powerful allies, Ningame," Gai said, staying in his crouched position so he could keep Lee from climbing on Ningame's back since that looked like it was _exactly_ what Lee was planning on doing.

"It is an honor to meet you Ningame-sama!" Lee cried out seriously, even going so far as to hold a hand up to his forehead in salute.

But Ningame was not as enthusiastic. "How come you never mentioned you have a kid?" he asked, fixing Gai with a sleepy stare.

Gai sputtered and waved his arms frantically. "Oh, no no! Lee is not my son, no we only just met tonight, but he's interested in becoming a ninja and-"

"Gai?" a muffled voice interrupted.

"Kakashi! Oh, thank you for coming. I'm so sorry to call you so late. Did I catch you at a bad time?" Gai asked quickly, standing up to properly greet his friend and completely missing the way Ningame scowled at not being offered these same apologies.

Kakashi shook his head and blinked at the scene before him.

Gai had been kneeling down talking to Ningame…with a kid who looked exactly like him…and they were surrounded by the unconscious bodies of ninjas…what.

"…are you having a party?" Kakashi murmured, looking down at the bodies and trying to determine what the hell Gai was doing.

"Ha!"

That laugh was much too loud for the hour, or any other time of day for that matter.

It was also the final straw for Ningame. "Gai, it seems like you and Kakashi have business to take care of, so now that I've met the kid I'll be going," he grumbled.

"Ah, yes, of course. Thank you for coming out!" Gai said.

"Nice to meet you, Ningame-sama!" Lee tried again. But once more the turtle rejected him and Ningame disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"…Gai."

"Ah, yes. Introductions…" he trailed off, holding his hand out to Lee as an invitation to step forward so he could introduce the child to Kakashi.

But Lee took it as an invitation to hold Gai's hand.

Gai continued anyway. "Lee, this is my eternal rival Kakashi. He's a very important ninja in our village and he helps to protect it and keep us safe. Kakashi, I would like you to meet Lee. He's a future ninja."

Kakashi did not flatter himself as being good with kids the way Gai did. He didn't particularly see the need to entertain one when there was clearly work to be done, but Kakashi did like Gai- very much in fact. Gai was his best friend, and if that nut job wanted him to meet this kid then Kakashi could play along – for a minute, anyway.

He crouched down until he was eye-level with Lee and closed his visible eye in what he intended as a friendly gesture. "Nice to meet you, Lee-kun."

Lee's eyes widened with delight once more and he reached for the mask resting on top of Kakashi's head with his free hand, before thinking better of it and offering Kakashi the same salute he had given to Ningame. "It's very nice to meet you, Kakashi-sama!"

Everyone was –sama to this kid. The manners had Gai wanting to clutch his heart and buy Lee chocolate.

Kakashi nodded at the salute and would have laughed if it weren't _three o'clock in the morning_. Instead he asked, "What are you doing out of your bed so late?"

Lee opened his mouth to answer, but then seemed unsure of himself and looked up at Gai instead as though he expected him to know the reason.

Of course, Gai didn't have a clue. He raised his eyebrows at Lee and nodded once, encouraging him to answer his friend.

Lee nodded at Gai's permission, and apparently got a shot of confidence from it.

"We had a trip today to see the garden. But I went to the bathroom and when I came out everyone was gone. So I waited here for Izumi-san to come and get me…but then it got dark and then they showed up…" Lee explained, casting a glance at one of the bodies.

Kakashi nodded gravely. "And so you took them all out by yourself?"

Lee's face lit up again and he laughed, curling in a bit on himself and nearly swatting at Kakashi with his free hand while the one holding Gai's squeezed in excitement.

"No! Gai-sensei beat up all the bad guys and then he made a turtle – no, _two_ turtles!" Lee answered.

"Gai is your sensei now?" Kakashi asked, and Gai could practically hear his amused grin underneath that mask as one visible eye flicked up with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes! He's going to teach me how to become a ninja!" Lee replied cheerfully.

Gai didn't remember deciding on that, but he wasn't going to argue.

Kakashi nodded again. "I see. Well it seems like you two have a lot of work to do if he's going to teach you how to be a ninja, and I need to see that these gentleman are taken care of."

Gai hadn't needed to explain anything to Kakashi. The ANBU member was a skilled enough ninja to recognize the forehead protectors on the unconscious men and guess at what had happened. There was still a gray area where Ningame was concerned, but Gai must have had his reasons.

"It was nice to meet you, Lee-kun."

"Yes! Thank you Kakashi-sama, it was very nice to meet you, too!" Lee chirped.

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask and then stood to face Gai again. "You go ahead and take him home and I'll clean up here."

Gai closed his eyes and reached out to clasp his friend's shoulder. "Thank you, Kakashi. I knew I could count on you."

"Of course. And after you take him back you're stopping by the hospital, yes?"

Oh right, the hospital.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes. I was actually heading there when I saw- well, yes. I will make that my next stop!"

Kakashi nodded. "Good. Let's catch up tomorrow after we both sleep in."

Gai thrust out his thumb and flashed a beaming smile at Kakashi. "It's a plan!"

He felt a small tug on his hand and looked down to see Lee was falling asleep even while standing up, and was trying desperately to fight it.

"Come now, Lee. We need to get you back to your bed," Gai said, bending down to scoop up the child who was pawing at his leg warmers to stay upright.

"But I'm not tired," Lee lied through a yawn. "I want to hear more about being a ninja!"

Gai laughed as he adjusted Lee on his hip to where they were both comfortable and after a final nod to Kakashi, began walking towards the orphanage. "Well, it's a very noble path, but it takes a lot of hard work and determination to become a great shinobi. It can be very dangerous. If you're not careful you could endanger yourself, or others."

Lee's eyes said quite plainly that this was all thrilling even though he was clearly exhausted. "And you have teams?"

Gai nodded. "Yes, once you graduate from the ninja academy you are placed in teams of three and placed under the care of a Jounin who acts as your teacher."

"And your team is your friends?"

The question, for all its grammatical problems, was also sad. Did Lee really not have friends?

Gai chose his words carefully. "Yes, usually. Sometimes teammates don't get along at first, but usually everyone ends up as friends after they spend time training together. It's very difficult to have a successful team when members don't get along. But if you work hard to forge strong friendships and find a good rival to help you grow and challenge yourself, you will have the strongest team of all!"

Lee seemed thrilled by that answer. "So if I train with my team they will be my friends?"

"Yes! And if you're very lucky, you will have a great teacher to help guide you on your ninja path and assist you in the forging of your friendships!" Gai proclaimed.

"Are you going to be my teacher?" Lee asked with all the optimism and innocence of a four-year-old.

Gai laughed and shifted Lee on his hip again. "Yes, Lee. If you and I are both very very lucky, then I will get to be your teacher."

That seemed to please Lee immensely. "I hope I'm lucky."

Lee would not be able to remember saying this, but years later, while sipping his morning coffee and enjoying a beautiful sunrise, Gai would remember these words and he would laugh. It was sad how prophetic and _wrong_ they were.

Despite his truly earnest attempts to fight it, Lee ended up falling asleep on the walk back. Gai didn't mind, Lee needed it and he had tucked his head on Gai's shoulder in a way that made Gai's heart beat very hard.

When he entered the main lobby of the orphanage he wasn't surprised to see that ninjas on duty were asleep, not after their negligence today, but he was disappointed.

 _Come on, boys. Look alive!_

"Excuse me!" he said loudly, hoping to scare them as they jerked from their sleep.

Fortunately Lee seemed to be immune to noise that wasn't directed at him, and he continued to snooze in Gai's arms.

The Chuunins on duty were not so lucky. One of them let out a tiny, terrified scream as he flipped backwards out of his chair, and the other jerked up so fast that Gai could hear his neck crack.

When their eyes came into focused and they recognized that it was a Jounin standing in front of them, for Gai was very easy to place, their expressions fell. "Um- he-hello, yes. How can we, um-" they sputtered awkwardly.

"First things first. I need to put this young man in bed. I need one of you to show me to his room," Gai said in a much quieter tone, now that he had properly spooked them.

One of the men nodded numbly and clumsily made his way out from behind the desk, nearly tripping over his chair again.

He quietly led Gai to the stairwell down the hall, and Gai followed him up to the third floor and then to the outside of one of two doors in this hall.

"This here is the boy's dorm," the Chuunin mumbled before quietly turning the knob and slowly opening the door.

They didn't want to turn a light on, but Gai was directed to Lee's bunk. After pulling off Lee's sandals with the hand that wasn't holding Lee against his side, Gai maneuvered the child into his bed without waking him up. Once he had successfully managed to pull the sheets up and tuck them in around the tiny body as much as he could when Lee was on the top bunk, Gai paused to admire Lee's sleeping face.

What a _cute_ kid. Even unconscious he still looked excited.

As quietly as he could, and that was really saying something for Gai, he tiptoed out of the room and followed the Chuunin back down to the main desk.

Once the man was back and sitting in his chair behind the desk, the Chuunins looked at each other nervously, and then back to Gai as though they expected for him to beat the crap out of them right there.

"Were you the supervisors responsible for today's field trip?" Gai asked.

Some of the tension seemed to leave their faces.

"No, no earlier today that was-"

"But you were responsible for making sure all of the children were in their bed at lights out, right?" Gai pressed.

It was amazing how quickly the human face could flip between showing relief and terror!

"Ye-yes, well, look it's our first week and sometimes they're hard to see when they're on the top bunks like that and-"

Gai held up a hand to stop him and frowned. "A man must never make excuses for doing his job poorly, especially when your job involves the care and well-being of children. I will see that you are dealt with tomorrow once I've had a chance to speak to the Hokage. You can save whatever you think is a suitable reason for allowing a child to be left alone on the street in the middle of the night until then. I only need to make sure of one thing tonight."

They winced, each of them squinting so only one eye was open. "Y-yes?"

These men were not impressing Gai.

"The academy sometimes takes orphans to stay in their dorms even before they become students," he began, frowning at the way they seemed relieved that his agenda didn't look like it involved punishing them. Oh they would get their punishment, alright. "I want you to contact the academy tomorrow and see how soon Lee could be transferred there."

The Chuunins blinked, turned to each other to blink again, and then turned back to face Gai. "Lee wants to live at the academy?"

"Of course not. Lee is four. He probably doesn't even know that children _can_ live at the academy before they become students. But he does want to become a ninja, and from what I've seen tonight it looks like the academy will do a better job keeping an eye on our future shinobi," Gai retorted. His usual good-natured charm and ease was slipping further and further away. Now that Lee was safely back in his bed the pain in Gai's arm had decided to make itself known again.

But what Gai said was true. If Lee wanted to be a ninja and he didn't have friends at the orphanage… well, there was no point in him staying here. He should be transferred to a place where he could be surrounded by like-minded children to help inspire him. It was there he could make friends- possibly even with his future teammates!

"Yes, of course. Anything you say, Gai-san."

Good.

Gai nodded at them once, too fatigued to say anything more, and left to see to his arm.

As he walked to the hospital he felt a tug in his heart again, the same one he'd felt after he put Lee to bed. He was far, far to young to be even entertaining the idea of fatherhood, and his job was far too dangerous for it to be a possibility even in the somewhat distant future. And yet-

It was a nice thought, to imagine taking Lee away from this place to an actual home. No dorm room with seven other boys and a communal shower across the hall guarded by indifferent young men down stairs. But somewhere where Lee could have his own spot at a table, and his own bedroom with his own toys. A place with a backyard where Gai _could_ teach Lee how to be a ninja…

Yes, Gai was far too young to be thinking about becoming a father, but this night was the first time he ever thought 'what if'?

It was a downright shame that when Lee would wake up the next morning he would assume that what little he could remember of the night before had been nothing more than a very exciting dream.

 _Three years later._

There was no way Lee could have remembered their second meeting because he was unconscious for all of it.

Gai had spent the evening with his fellow Jounins at a bar. It was their first night off in weeks, and tomorrow was a big, blank page of unscheduled wonder. The Jounins could drink themselves silly, pray for a handsome partner to take home, and go to sleep without setting an alarm.

Drinking oneself to the point of losing their facilities was not something Gai took pride or pleasure in, and more than anything enjoyed how drinks paired well with meat and sent him into a happy sleep.

Once he'd reached that deliciously warm point, he bid his comrades a hearty goodnight, and left the bar with his hand adoringly rubbing his stomach.

His bed sounded so lovely and warm, and he felt so lucky to know that he could enjoy a full night's rest! Sleep aided his muscles – it was his friend.

A lovely jog sounded nice, like just the thing to help aid his digestion, and Gai got as far as lifting his elbows to get into proper running form when he passed the academy.

Gai only looked over by chance, and really it was nothing more than a two-second glance in the _direction_ of the building. He had no intentions of stopping or seeing anything that would give him pause – and yet.

He stopped almost immediately and stared at the training field as his mind desperately hoped he wasn't seeing what his eyes were reporting. But a shinobi's senses are strong and well trained to detect not only chakra, but the presence of others as well. Gai wasn't getting a strong chakra reading, but there was definitely a person lying in the field, and since there were only a few people who lived at the academy full time and would be likely to be out on the training field so late at night, it was probably a child.

Gai moved without thinking as his date called after him. He sprinted over to the sleeping body and almost laughed when he realized he recognized it.

At first, Gai was delighted. Lee! He was getting to see Lee again! And at the academy, no less. All those years ago Gai had inquired after the irresponsible Chuunins he'd admonished to make sure they had followed up on their promise to contact the academy on Lee's behalf. They had, they were afraid of Gai, and now look! Lee was here!

At least, Gai hoped Lee was staying here and wasn't actually just this far from the orphanage all alone at night again.

It looked as though Lee had fallen asleep while training – or playing? He would be about seven now, and that meant he could very well be a student here…but if he had been playing wouldn't there have been other children around? Children who would not have left Lee asleep out here by himself? Shouldn't Lee have friends now if he was staying here?

Either way, Gai knew that the children who lived at the academy had supervisors. Someone was supposed to make sure that every night every tiny head under their care was supposed to go onto a tiny pillow and stay there until it was time for breakfast. This was a serious oversight and one that couldn't be forgiven.

Why it had happened _twice_ so far in Lee's short life was baffling.

Gai bent down and scooped Lee up, figuring that he would probably continue to sleep and wouldn't wake up terrified to find himself in a strange man's arms. Would he be able to recognize Gai? Lee had been pretty young when they met…could people remember things from when they were four?

That thought preoccupied Gai all the way into the building. He was so focused on trying to remember something from when he was four that he didn't even notice that the snoring had stopped completely. Lee's breathing was slow and even, and his tiny eyes remained closed in slumber, but the moment he was curled against Gai's chest he became a peaceful, sleeping angel instead of a loud, vibrating snore-demon.

Unlike the orphanage, Gai didn't need assistance to navigate the academy buildings. He knew exactly where the boys slept, and while he might have to guess at which _room_ to put Lee in, there should only be one empty bed. He would figure it out.

But fortunately Gai got it right on the first guess.

Man, where were the adults? Gai had literally strolled in off the street and walked into a children's dorm room. He could be anyone! Was this how Konoha protected its ninjas? It almost made Gai feel silly for putting those Chuunins to such shame and boasting that the academy would to a better job with kids. This was disgraceful.

The light from the moon was the only thing Gai had to help him navigate the room and avoid stepping on the strewn clothes and books littering the floor. There were only three other boys sharing this room with Lee, which made it twice as spacious as the orphanage, and none of them seemed to notice that anyone unfamiliar had entered the room. Their deep, even breathing continued on. Gai almost envied them. He hadn't been able to sleep that securely in years, certainly not since he became a Jounin.

Gai gently laid Lee down in the only empty bed he saw, and hoped very much that this _was_ Lee's bed and some other confused child wasn't about to come back from the bathroom and start screaming.

Just as he had three years ago, Gai slipped Lee's sandals off and tucked four tiny limbs under the cover of a clean, white sheet. Gai looked over the bed, hoping to find a blanket of some sort, like the other boys had, but Lee didn't appear to sleep with anything other than this thin piece of fabric and his pillow.

Gai sighed and shook his head. Once again he found himself wanting to take this kid home and give him a room of his own – one with a proper _blanket_. But that was silly, and impractical. Ninjas do not adopt children just because they don't have fluffed pillows or someone to take off their sandals, or brush their hair out of their face while they slept…

Lee's hair had grown much longer in the last three years, and the loose ponytail it was pulled into looked like it was going to knot if he slept on it. Gai would have liked to pull it out and brush it for Lee, but he couldn't reasonably linger here any longer than was absolutely necessary without running the risk of looking very _bad_.

So he settled for pushing Lee's bangs out of his face, whispering, "Stay out of trouble, Lee," and heading back downstairs.

Since shinobi ran the academy there must have been someone in the building who was awake and responsible for running things during the evening, but Gai wasn't sure where to find them.

He couldn't very well just start knocking on random doors hoping that the right ninja would pop out, although the idea was tempting. It would be like whack-a-ninja!

No, Gai was sure to get in trouble for that.

He could leave a note? But that wasn't scary enough. Even a strongly worded letter wasn't going to cut it.

"Gai-san?"

The whisper scared the hell out of Gai the way the note was supposed to scare the academy ninjas.

He spun around to face the noise and instinctively assumed a fighting stance.

"It's just me, Gai-san," said Ebisu, who Gai really should have recognized from voice alone. "What are you doing here?"

Gai dropped his pose and puffed out his chest. "I am looking for the ninjas on duty right now. I just found a student asleep on the training field all by himself and-"

"Was it Lee?" Ebisu interrupted.

 _How -_

"Yes, yes it was- how did you know?"

Ebisu sighed and dropped his head, suddenly looking much older than they were. "That boy sneaks out of his bed to go train every night."

It was simply indecent how proud Gai was of this child whom he had almost no connection to. "Every night?" he repeated back, eyes wide like Lee's had been when he learned that Gai was a ninja.

His former teammate sighed again. "Yes, every night. We can't very well bolt the window when it's this hot outside, and I've tried talking to him about it. But he doesn't seem to have any talent for Ninjutsu and so he's always out there _trying_ to do _something-"_

Gai's ears perked up at that. "He can't use Ninjutsu?"

Ebisu shook his head and pulled his glasses off to clean the lenses with the hem of his shirt. "It's not that he can't, and really he's still too young to tell. He hasn't even been admitted to the academy yet so we haven't really tried or trained him. He doesn't seem to have much chakra, but most children can't really connect with theirs enough to perform a Ninjutsu until after they've been through the academy – as I'm sure you remember."

Gai nodded. He remembered very well. He was one of those children. When he had entered the academy he could use neither Ninjutsu nor Genjutsu, and it had been a very frustrating few years for him until he was able to get his chakra to knock its attitude problem off and deliver.

"Anyway," Ebisu continued as he placed his glasses back on his face (though they didn't look any cleaner). "I pity the Jounin in charge of the team he gets placed on, if he ever makes it out of the academy, that is."

Two perfectly groomed and voluptuous eyebrows came together in a frown. "What do you mean?"

"Lee won't listen to _anyone_. Sweet kid, very sweet, in fact he might be the most polite child I've ever met, and he doesn't cause trouble – except for this training. We need to put him on a leash and lock him in his room," Ebisu answered before sighing again. "In any case, thanks for bringing him back."

"Of course," Gai answered absently, still frowning over what Ebisu had said.

"Hey, Gai."

He lifted his eyes but the frown remained.

Ebisu seemed to consider him for a moment and then laughed. "You and Lee, he could be your kid, you know. You guys look and act the same."

That pulled his eyebrows out of their cranky funk, and the warm flutter returned to his heart. "Really? He acts like me?"

"Yeah, he's a fool."

Gai just laughed, again- much too loudly for the hour, and punched his former teammate's shoulder in what he meant to be a friendly way but actually sent Ebisu staggering back a few feet.

He shook his head and smiled fondly while Ebisu rubbed his arm and quietly mouthed, " _Ow_ ".

"I think he will become a very fine ninja. It sounds like he has all the makings of a master," Gai said proudly.

"Because I said he acts like you, or because he keeps sneaking out to train?"

"Both!"

Of course.

"I am afraid I should be going, my friend," Gai said, finally returning his voice to an appropriate volume. "The hour is late, and I am hungry."

Ebisu nodded, still rubbing his arm. "Sure, anyway thanks again."

Gai nodded and made his way toward the door before he remembered something and stopped midstride.

"Ebisu-san," he called, turning around.

"Hm?"

"Does Lee have friends?" Gai asked, much, much quieter than he had been before.

Ebisu didn't skip a beat. "No. The other kids think he's strange."

Gai's face was contorted in an expression he didn't often wear, one that looked as hurt as if Ebisu had just said that about Gai instead of Lee.

"Strange?"

The other Jounin did not seem nearly as upset by this and he continued on in the same nonchalant way. "He's too passionate – about everything."

That made – _absolutely_ – no sense to Gai.

"I see," he lied. "Ebisu-san, do me a favor and keep an eye on him. I have big hopes for that kid."

Ebisu frowned at him and finally let go of his arm. "You do? Do you know him?"

Gai laughed and assumed his favorite stance in the world, closing his fist, pointing his thumb up and thrusting it out at the other man. He waited for the light to twinkle on his brilliant teeth before answering. "He's going to be my student."

It was a statement of fact, and the universe went ahead and decided not to question it.

 _Three years later._

Ebisu had done as Gai asked, although he didn't spend very much time with the children who weren't directly under his training. But he did go a step further, as a courtesy to his former teammate, and passed on the wish that Lee be looked after to Iruka.

Lee still didn't have friends, but he was going to make his first one soon. Tenten, a feisty young woman who aspired to be as great as the legendary Tsunade, had borrowed a pen from Lee and then sat next to him for the rest of the lesson.

Gai was still as busy as ever, with missions keeping him so busy and so far from the village that he sometimes felt like a tourist when he entered the gates, but the fluttering in his heart when he left Lee in the training field that day felt familiar.

He hoped that Lee would remember him this time.

Lee did.

 _Two Years Later_

"I see you got your doppelganger."

The meeting between the Jounins and the Hokage for placement of this year's Genin academy graduated had just let out. Since the most splendid duo of rivals Konoha had ever seen were included in that meeting, they left together to go grab lunch and talk about their students.

Well, Gai wanted to talk – gush, really – and Kakashi wanted to eat, but the end result was the same either way.

Gai beamed at his friend and nodded. "Yes! Fortune favors the youthful, and I have been gifted with a pupil who reminds me a great deal of myself at his age."

Kakashi's smile was hidden by his mask. "The eyebrows?"

"More than just the eyebrows. I've heard that he cannot use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu and has to move forward with Taijutsu alone," Gai said proudly, as though this were an accomplishment of his.

"Ohh, then you really are the best suited for him in the village. I figured the Hokage just took one look at your faces and figured Konoha was better off if the eyebrow twins stuck together."

Classic Kakashi, always making jokes. Although Gai actually quite liked the sound of 'the eyebrow twins' – that made it sound like they were famous.

Yes, Lee had been placed on his team. Gai had been thrumming with nervous energy ever since the Hokage had asked him to become a sensei to recently graduated Genins. The timing added up – Lee should be about twelve; he would be graduating with this class. Gai had also heard that this was a much _smaller_ batch of graduates, only enough for three teams. The odds were in Gai's favor, and although he had not specifically requested to have Lee, because it was considered in poor taste to pick and choose preferred students, Gai had a feeling that his Hokage knew exactly how invest Gai was in Lee's future.

Even if it made no damn sense. He had met Lee _three_ times. Three! He still barely even knew anything about the boy, but he did know that he _was_ the best equipped to be Lee's teacher- bizarre fatherly affections aside.

It seemed the Hokage had agreed. When the third announced the names of the Genins placed under Gai's tutelage he had to try very hard not to whoop and holler, and since Gai was not a master of hiding his emotions they came out through happy tears instead.

Neji, Tenten, and _Lee._ Gai had a team!

Well, not officially. They had to pass his test. But he and Kakashi had discussed this before, and they each had one thing in particular they said they would look for if they were ever put in charge of Genins.

For Kakashi, that was teamwork.

For Gai? _Determination_.

Students without determination and drive would have no place on Gai's team. He was not the sensei for them. He wanted kids who had goals – and then he wanted to help them work hard to reach them. He wanted a nice, supportive, hard-working _unit_ that would work together well.

But Gai knew that he would have to help cultivate the good relationships, and it was unlikely that they would all thrive together from the get go.

Which was why his students really, _really_ needed determination. Else they would all surely mutiny and kill him.

At least Kakashi would be around to praise them for the teamwork.

"Perhaps the Hokage was inspired by our eyebrows," Gai replied, reaching up to pet his black face caterpillars. "Whatever the case may be, I am very pleased with his choices."

"Have you decided on your test for tomorrow?" Kakashi asked, shifting his mask off of his face so he could tuck into the plate of curry that had been placed in front of him.

Gai wanted to tuck in as well, but he wasn't good at not speaking with food in his mouth and didn't want to spray his poor friend. Especially not now that the mask was pulled down and Kakashi's chin would have no protection from his enthusiasm.

"I have! The students must defeat me, or die trying," he answered seriously.

Kakashi paused with the spoon halfway up to his face. His visible eye had a blank look as it stared across the table at Gai and waited for the explanation.

But Gai took that as his cue to start eating so Kakashi could marvel over the brilliance of his decision.

Fine, Kakashi would bite.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh for their first day?' he asked, his expression unchanging.

Gai shook his head, remembering to swallow before he spoke. "Of course they don't really have to _die_ , I only mean that they must be willing to push themselves to their absolute limits."

Kakashi's eye blinked at him. "What do you want them to do, exactly?"

"Well, I want them to defeat me. But in the event that they are unable to, I want them to be unwilling to give up. Even if they collapse or can't do anything more than glare at me- I want to see them give it their all," Gai answered proudly. He didn't think he was asking for so much.

And when he put it like that, Kakashi didn't either. To each sensei their own, but Gai really wasn't so far off the mark of what most teachers looked for.

Kakashi nodded and continued with his meal. He already knew what he was going to do tomorrow, but he was still worried about it.

As if reading his thoughts Gai beamed at him again, which he really shouldn't do when he'd just had curry, and struck his signature pose. "Don't worry, Kakashi," he assured his friend. "You will be great tomorrow!"

Kakashi offered a small smile and continued eating. It wasn't _him_ that Kakashi was concerned about, but he appreciated Gai's words all the same.

Unfortunately, only one of the senseis would begin and end the day with a team. Kakashi unapologetically sent his get back off to the academy and then went to visit his friend's grave to wonder after his choices. Gai ended the day by taking his new team out to dinner and trying not to beam too much at Lee.

 _3 1/2 months later._

Gai wasn't actively trying to turn Lee into a miniature version of him, but was definitely not doing anything to try and stop the transformation.

Two weeks ago Gai had headed to the training fields with three extra sets of tights, intended for his beloved students. He was so excited to give them this gift, optimistically thinking that they would be just as excited to receive them. Fortunately for Gai, he was spared the judgment, or horror in Tenten's case, on two of his student's faces with how animated and loud Lee's reaction had been.

The second his sensei had handed him the fresh pair of green tights Lee had taken a moment to gawk over the fabric and then immediately started to pull his shirt off.

Tenten had admonished him while Gai just laughed and praised his enthusiasm, but he did back Tenten up and insist that Lee wait until after their training was done to put them on. Personally, Gai didn't see anything wrong with changing in front of teammates, but he wanted to respect all of his student's comfort levels.

Of course, this meant that Lee had been fired up beyond belief. He was practically bouncing with excitement to go put on his new uniform, and since Lee was already quite bouncy and overly enthusiastic during training it had led to a particularly exhausting afternoon for Neji and Tenten. Although they were privately grateful for Lee's enthusiasm distracting their sensei from their unwillingness to don his favorite garb, they still walked away grumbling about the toll Lee's excitement had taken on their bodies.

Apparently the next time they encountered an enemy they just needed to promise Lee that he could have something that made him look more like Gai-sensei immediately afterward and the battle would be over in no time.

Lucky for Tenten and Neji, as they were too focused on rubbing their sore backsides and complaining, they didn't notice Lee had picked up right where he left with his shirt earlier the moment Gai had officially declared their training 'finished'. Forget the weight training or the gates, Lee moved so fast to rip off his clothes and pull those tights on that by the time his teammates had finished getting a drink of water he was already zipped up and beaming in green. He even tore his headband off, nearly ripping the fabric in the process, and tied it around his waist, to complete the effect.

It was hard to stay irritated with Lee. It wasn't as hard for Neji as it was for Tenten, but it was still hard. Lee had immediately run up to Gai and held his arm up to his sensei's to marvel over the way they matched. He was laughing so delightedly and moving to compare every part of their bodies, squealing every time they came up looking the same. They were full-body tights, of course they were going to match everywhere- but Lee's laughter was infectious and Tenten found herself smiling as she watched the ridiculous pair.

Neji was reciting a meditative chant in his head as he stared at the sky and tried not to focus too hard on the word 'why'.

Gai had laughed just as happily as Lee, and he was just as interested in and delighted by the way they matched.

The following week Gai decided to start Lee on the weight training to increase his strength and speed. He wanted to teach Lee the Konoha whirlwind, and that move required incredible speed. The weights would help compensate for Lee's tiny frame and low weight. Gai had no doubt that Lee could become strong and speedy on his own, but the weights would help.

Of course, if Lee was going to wear giant weights around his ankles then he needed to have something dashing to hide them.

When Gai handed Lee a pair of orange leg warmers, Lee had squealed so loudly Neji thought his eardrum had suffered permanent damage.

This last week had been spent with Lee following Gai everywhere. This was not unusual for Lee, but this week he seemed very keen on going out and doing things. Gai immediately recognized that Lee just wanted to show people how they matched now, how they were so very much master and disciple. Of course, this made Gai's heart swell with pride and had manly tears cascading down his cheeks.

The first person to actually comment on the new level of likeness was Kakashi.

Gai and his shadow were out looking at explosives tags for kunais. Ever since Tenten had expressed interest in summoning weapons, Gai had spent a great deal of time trying to learn more about them so he could help her. He didn't have much experience with explosives, since he was close-range fighter and that wouldn't lead anywhere good, but his team could really use a long-range fighter and with Tenten's new interest explosive weapons killed two birds with one stone.

Lee was dutifully standing beside his sensei and trying to soak up everything the shop keeper was telling them, but truthfully he was so excited to be out in public and dressed like this that he was having a very hard time focusing.

"Lee."

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee chirped back, turning to give his full attention to the man beside him. Excited or not, Lee always paid attention when Gai-sensei spoke to him.

"Which do you think she would like better?" Gai asked, pointing between two tags which looked identical to Lee.

"Um…"

But Lee was spared revealing to his sensei that he had not been focusing during the shop keeper's explanation by a very familiar 'yo'.

"Kakashi!" Gai bellowed, again forgetting that he was indoors and that volume control was an important part of being an adult in society.

Kakashi was unfazed, though. His ears had taken years of Gai's yelling and although he was probably a little deaf from it, it was no longer bothersome. Instead of reacting to the noise, Kakashi was distracted by the worry that he was seeing double.

His visible eye flicked between the Beautiful Green Beast and his protégé before settling on his friend and closing.

Lee was practically vibrating with excitement. This was it – someone was finally going to notice that he matched his sensei now. _Say it, Kakashi-sensei_ _ **Say**_ _it!_

"You match."

It was the simplest statement Kakashi could have possibly said, and it wasn't even kind or positive – just a statement of fact, but Lee's cheeks immediately turned peek and he beamed.

Gai looked down at his student and his heart swelled with pride over how pleased this statement made Lee.

"Yes!" Gai replied cheerfully, enthusiastically clasping Lee's shoulder. "I thought it was high time my students were given the chance to wear a professional uniform," and Lee completely missed the way Gai had stressed 'my students' and looked a bit flustered underneath his pride. "But only Lee was interested in taking that next step."

See, see, Kakashi I tried! I gave an equal opportunity, I bought three pairs – I will show you the receipt!

Kakashi turned his attention back to Lee and frowned after a moment. He stayed silent, seemingly considering Lee's appearance, and then looked back at Gai.

"You put a red bandana on him and he would look exactly like you when you were his age," he remarked, sounding amused.

Gai raised his magnificent eyebrows and looked at Lee, who was looking back at Gai with a face that plainly said he wanted their next stop to be the nearest store that sold red bandanas.

Kakashi was right.

Lee's hair was shorter than it had been years ago, but it still fell past his ears, and now that Lee no longer wore his bandana around his forehead his hairstyle was almost identical to a thirteen-year-old Gai's.

Gai laughed. "Uncanny!" he declared, clasping Lee's shoulder again.

 _See, Kakashi – uncanny. Not canny. As in, it could not even be helped please don't call me out on my favoritism._

Again, Lee missed any possible trace of nerves in his sensei and was immensely pleased.

"Thank you very much, Kakashi-sensei!" he chirped, cheeks still pink with pleasure.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Was pointing out a likeness to Gai something to be thanked for? It was sweet, either way. Kakashi remembered a very polite four-year-old speaking to him the same way, and it really was uncanny that Lee's behavior made him even more similar to his sensei when he was young.

"Sure, Lee-kun. Sooo, what are you here for?" Kakashi asked, glancing at the counter that still had two sets of exploding tags, and a very grumpy looking employee behind it.

"Ah, yes," Gai said, turning to face the tags. "We are looking at some exploding tags for Tenten to use in practice with her weapon summoning!"

 _See, SEE?! I focus on my other students too! Look – Tenten. Yes, Lee is here and yes we are getting lunch after this and yes we will probably spend the afternoon together too – but I didn't forget about Tenten_.

"Mmm," Kakashi answered. "I'd go with the blue ones for her summoning scrolls. They're less temperamental."

The shopkeeper scowled at him. The blue ones were less expensive.

But Gai nodded in agreement, which made Lee join in a second later, even though he wasn't one hundred percent positive what he was agreeing to. "That's what I was thinking. Alright, we will take these!" he said, slapping a palm down on the preferred stack and nearly giving the shop keeper a heart attack when the topmost tag smoked for a second.

They paid for their purchase and bid farewell to Kakashi so he could finish his errand. Gai frowned and looked up and down the street once he and Lee were out of the shop.

"Gai-sensei, what's wrong?"

Gai rubbed his chin and continued to frown. "There's one more thing we need to pick up…but I'm not sure if we should get lunch first…"

Clearly this was a big decision.

"What else do we need to get?" Lee asked, inordinately pleased that the promise of lunch and more errands meant more time out with his sensei.

"Bandages," Gai answered before choosing on a direction and setting off.

"Bandages? For what?" Lee asked, jogging for a second to catch up to Gai's side.

The shop they needed was only a few stores down and by the time Lee had asked they were already there.

"For you, Lee!" Gai replied brightly, stepping in and nodding at the shopkeeper.

Lee frowned and looked down at his legs where he was wearing bandages underneath his leg warmers. "But, Gai-sensei, I already have bandages – I'm wearing them now," he said, bending down to show his teacher.

Gai laughed and waved his hand to stop him. "Not for your legs, you need some for your hands and forearms."

Lee held out said hands and forearms so he could examine them. Why did he need bandages?

His sensei could read his confusion and laughed again. "Lee, your hands are getting torn up from your training," he explained, reaching out to take one of them and lightly tracing a finger over a particularly nasty cut on one of Lee's fingers. "Bruises will heal, but I can't keep letting you train with wounds. That's a good way for them to get infected."

Lee hardly thought that counted as a wound, but he was certainly not going to argue with his sensei. He looked down at his hand inside his teacher's larger one.

Gai-sensei was tanner than him. Lee was going to have to train extra hard in the sun if he wanted to catch up. Absently, Lee wondered if his teacher was only tan on his face and hands since the rest of his body was covered. It wouldn't do for Lee to get a tan all over if wasn't going to match.

Gai gave Lee's hand a squeeze and then let it go so he could grab the necessary bandage to wrap it.

They paid and exited the shop, this time in pursuit of lunch. Gai always asked Lee what he wanted to have, since his stomach was always agreeable to anything, and today was no exception.

Lee loved being able to choose lunch – he took it like a responsibility. His teacher had not yet divulged that it was against his principles to dislike any food, so for every opportunity Lee had to choose their meal, he gave himself a Maito Gai style self-imposed rule. 'If Gai-sensei does not like my suggestion for lunch then I will do two thousand push-ups!"

So far, Lee hadn't had to do any push-ups.

His stomach was in the mood for curry, and Gai's stomach was in the mood for literally anything, so the boys headed off to their favorite curry house.

Lee was hoping that the cook here would also say something about their outfits. He and Gai came in often enough that the owners here knew them, and had commented before on the similarities between their eyebrows, so Lee felt confident that they would also say something about how much he took after his sensei now.

The young woman who took their order smiled at them and told Lee they looked like a very smart pair, dressed like that. She liked these two a lot. Gai was charming and Lee was the cutest thing in the world. The pleased flush that darkened his cheeks at her comment left her wanting to wrap Lee in a blanket and give them their lunch for free. She winked at Gai before walking away and nudging her brother, who was cooking, and nodding in their direction so he could appreciate the cute too.

Gai decided to wait until after they had finished their meal to show Lee how to wrap the bandages. It wouldn't do to get curry on them so early in their life.

The boys wolfed down their lunch, although Lee was very careful not to spill anything on his new favorite clothing. After what could not have been more than five minutes, they pushed their empty plates to the side and Gai held out his hands for one of Lee's arms.

"These will stay in place best if you start from here, almost to your elbow," Gai explained, taking one of the bandages and beginning to wrap it from that precise spot. He took care not to wrap them too tightly, and when he came up to Lee's hands he frowned at just how beaten up they were. He should probably chide himself for letting Lee train like this for so long, but he was just so proud of Lee - for his fierce commitment and for never complaining about it – what a wonderful student!

"Make sure you still have full rotation in your wrist," Gai continued, lacing his fingers with Lee's and pressing their palms together so he could move Lee's hand in full circles and make sure he hadn't wrapped too tightly. "And on your fingers," he went on, after deeming his wrist wrap acceptable. "Don't cover the knuckle, stop just below it."

Lee nodded attentively to everything. His eyes were bright and focused intently on what Gai was doing. He would have taken notes if his hands were free. He was going to master wrapping his hands! He would do it perfectly on the first try, or he would do five hundred lunges- each leg!

"There!" Gai declared after he had finished wrapping each individual finger. He reached into the bag beside him and pulled out another wrap. "Here, you try."

Time to shine, Lee.

Lee should have taken into account that it was much easier for Gai-sensei to do this when he had full use of both his hands and Lee could only use one.

He would have to do those lunges.

Gai laughed at Lee's frustrated face and moved to take the bandage out of his hand after the seventh failed attempt. He began to wrap Lee's arm the same way he had on the other one. "Perhaps it will be better to have someone help you with this. If I'm ever not around, ask Tenten or Neji. But keep trying to do it yourself, as well!"

Lee's eyes had grown wide. "Why wouldn't you be around?"

"Hm?"

His student was looking at him very seriously. "You said…why wouldn't you be around?" he repeated, softer this time.

Gai blinked at his student, took a moment to understand why Lee looked so severe, and then smiled. He squeezed Lee's arm and laughed. "Forgive me, Lee! I misspoke. I will always be around for you!"

Lee was such an optimist, and so simple, that he took these words at face value and smiled back at his sensei. That matter was settled then.

Gai finished wrapping Lee's arm, said 'you're welcome' after Lee thanked him, paid, he and Lee thanked the owners (who were smiling adoringly at the pair), and then headed out to get something for the only member of their team who hadn't yet come out of today with a present.

As they walked, Lee looked down at where their arms were swinging next to each other.

He frowned. Something was wrong now, something was off…

Lee nearly gasped when he realized it. These stupid bandages meant he no longer matched his sensei! He was going to wear them no matter what, because Gai-sensei had bought them, wrapped them, and thought Lee needed them, but Lee did pout at the way it was easy to tell their arms apart now.

As if their sizes had not made that obvious before.

Gai was oblivious to the tiny crisis Lee was having beside him. "Maybe Neji needs more of his lotion…" he murmured. Repeatedly slamming your palm into the ground, and your teammates, tended to leave the skin a bit worse for the wear, and Neji had a habit of rubbing lotion on his hands after each training session concluded. It was a level of fussiness Gai could not empathize with, but if it was important to Neji, then Gai was going to support him.

Lee flexed his fingers a few times, adjusting to the feeling of having them constricted. Even if they made his arm look different from sensei's, Lee had to admit that they did make him feel more like a ninja.

Gai did notice the way Lee was grinning at his hands. "What do you say, Lee, let's get something for Neji and then go test out your wraps!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee hollered back.

The bandages turned out not to be so bad, but Lee did wish that he had gotten more than one week of matching his sensei.

Gai caught his pout as they finished up their training for the evening and frowned. "Lee, what's wrong?"

Lee nearly jumped. "Nothing! Nothing, Gai-sensei!" he answered dutifully.

But senseis can always tell when their students are full of shit. "Lee."

He was caught. "It's silly…"

"Nonsense, Lee. Tell me your feelings."

Lee turned a bit pink again and held his arms up. "It's just…well, we matched more before the bandages…"

Gai began crying immediately. "You make your teacher very proud indeed by wanting to take after him so much!" he cried. "But I'm sorry, Lee. You need to wear those bandages to prevent further unnecessary damage to your arms."

Lee nodded once at his sensei. "Of course I will, Gai-sensei! And you have already given me a wonderful uniform! Thank you, Gai-sensei!"

So sweet!

But…

Gai frowned, stroking his chin and regarding Lee before a light bulb went off. "Lee! There is one more thing we could do."

Lee's eyes lit up. It didn't matter what it was; if it was going to help him look more like his teacher, then Lee was going to do it.

Tenten screamed and Neji had to start his meditative chant immediately when two matching bowl cuts turned up to training the next day.

 _1 ½ months later._

The mission had not been a success.

Gai and his team were tasked with retrieving sensitive documents from ninjas who had broken into the Hokage's office and stolen them. It was a B-rank, should have been over in a few hours and then back to Konoha in time for dinner.

They were completely unprepared for a poison master to be in the enemy's company. Neji, Tenten and Lee were fighting on their own, each teen facing a ninja twice their size and undoubtedly more experienced, while Gai was distracted with the leader of the troupe and his army of shadow clones. They were unlike Naruto's favorite Kage Bunshins in that these were actually shadows. Their outlines were vaguely anthropomorphic, but blurry and larger than a grown man. Although they had no physical bodies they seemed perfectly capable of holding and whipping weapons around. It was difficult to use Taijutsu against a shadow, and Gai was desperately trying to fight through the swarm of them to take out the ninja creating the horrid things. This man had the documents, and if Gai could defeat him and just grab them then he could get the kids out of here…

Really, the timing was almost comical. He had been able to hear the kids yelling behind him, although he was unsure if they were cries of battle or pain, and it was with the youths in his ward on his mind that he landed one final kick to the leader and defeated the bastard. The second the lifeless body hit the ground, just as Gai made to turn and head back to his team, he heard Lee scream.

This was not a battle cry. He had heard Lee's excited, youthful, determined yell a thousand times, usually accompanied by a foot flying at Gai's face. This was pain.

Gai didn't remember opening the gates, although it must have been a conscious decision because the gates do not react to instinct, but the next thing he remembered he had Neji on his back, Tenten in one arm and Lee in the other and he was sprinting as fast as he possibly could toward the nearest town; leaving a pile of bodies behind him.

He should have been too exhausted to make the trip, but he'd only opened up to the third gate and perhaps the instinctual part of his brain was finally interacting with the gates and insisting that he get the kids to safety before collapsing.

Neji had been struck in the leg by a kunai, and while the wound wasn't deep or life threatening, it did mean that Neji couldn't run. He held on tightly to Gai's neck, keeping his arms locked in place and one leg around Gai's waist holding on as much as he was able with his other leg useless. Tenten had been knocked out with a gross blow to the head. Again, Gai suspected that her injury was not fatal. Of course any head trauma needed inspection from a doctor, and Gai was far from that, but the kids got knocked out all the time. It was the nature of their jobs to put their craniums in danger – and they were excellent at coming through with thicker skulls and quicker reflexes. Tenten would be fine, but she too was unable to run in her unconscious state, and Gai kept a firm grip on her with his left arm.

And Lee…

Gai didn't realize Lee was fighting the poison master or he would have intervened sooner. Taijutsu means close range – in your face attacks- lots of body-to-body contact and thrusting your limbs forward into the personal space of the enemy. Poison masters are known for their ability to infect their own bodies without suffering from the ill effects of their weapons. Lee, his exclusively Taijutsu style student, had no business fighting someone like that.

Not only had he been seized with a poison from the moment his first punch landed, but the enemy had also taken the opportunity to capitalize on Lee's paralysis to disable his attempts at fighting off the inevitable by stabbing him in the arm and leg.

It all happened so fast.

Fortunately, for everyone except the rogues, Gai was also fast. He ran like he had never run in his life. He didn't know much about poisons, preferring to stay away from such gross toys, but from his experiences in the field he had come to recognize a few. He could tell you which ones could be sucked out of a wound without causing damage to the healer, he could identify which ones would act before the afflicted had time to, and he was familiar with a nasty little poison that caused unbearable pain and took its sweet time to kill its host.

Lee had been caught by the last one.

It was a good thing he had passed out, that meant less suffering, but Gai was terrified. He knew that if Lee wasn't cured within the _hour_ then Gai would lose him.

There were tears on Gai's cheeks when he broke out of the forest and reentered Konoha and made for the hospital.

He could barely remember speaking to the doctors (it was probably more like panicked screaming), and depositing each of the children onto a stretcher. He had a vague recollection of a doctor leading him to a chair, asking him some questions, telling him it would be all right, and giving him something warm to drink. Gai hadn't even thought that he might be in need of medical attention as well, so focused he was on the young ones, but the doctors had noted the shake in his legs and was horrified to hear that he had run so far and so fast after opening a gate and fighting off no less than twelve men. The warm drink disguised as comfort had been medicine, and Gai's body was grateful for it.

Gai was told to stay in the waiting room while his team was tended to.

He couldn't believe how close he had come to losing his team. In one day, and on a mission that should have taken only a few hours – he was horrified.

The Jounins go through additional training after they are put on sensei duty. Of course, they already know what it's like to be a ninja, and how to work on a team – they were once in the Genins' shoes – but there is a special class they must take that Gai had apparently not fully processed.

' _Your students might die_.'

Of course, it is the Jounin's job to make sure that doesn't happen – to keep them safe at all costs. But sometimes it still happens. It _hadn't_ happened in Konoha for a very long time, not since he and Kakashi were younger. But it did happen.

' _Don't promise to keep them safe, you can't keep that promise.'_

' _Don't expect for them to come through every mission unscathed.'_

' _Don't blame yourself.'_

Gai was really struggling with that last point. How was it not his fault?

' _Remember, they are young, but they are ninjas. They know what they signed up for, and each of them is qualified enough to have graduated from the academy.'_

Oh, blah.

They had only been a team for five months now. Five months and that could have been it.

This could not be allowed to happen again.

Gai was going to have to train them harder than ever. He would not fail them by slacking off in his duties as their teacher. They were all going to become _masters_. He was going to help Neji perfect his gentle fist no matter what- he would spend his own free time working on it himself in order to be a better teacher. And Tenten would get all the weapons practice she could stand – Gai would be her dummy if need be but she was going to become an _expert_ with those scrolls. Gai already stayed late for additional training with Lee, but the sessions were just going to have to become longer and more intense, he was going to learn every technique Gai knew, every single-

An idea came to him. A bad, bad idea came to him.

He needed to calm down. Gai held his face with his hands; his elbows supported by his knees, and tried to take a deep breath. He didn't want the kids to see him like this. Gai dragged his fingers through his hair and tugged a bit to try and bring himself back to reality.

He would worry about training tomorrow. For now, Gai needed to put on a brave face, wait for his students to be discharge and just be grateful that they made it through today…

Sometime later Neji came out. He was supporting himself with a crutch, and after his tired eyes swept the room and spotted his teacher he awkwardly attempted to hobble over. Gai didn't let him make it more than two steps before he rushing over and pulling him into a hug while he shouted apologies and gratefulness that Neji was okay.

Neji didn't like to be hugged, and he really didn't like shouting, but Gai was going to win him over one day and right now he was truly too glad to see Neji standing upright and healthy to worry about whether or not hugs bothered him. He did, however, respect Neji's demand to not be picked up and instead walked slowly beside the boy, all the while holding a cautious hand behind Neji's back in case he slipped with the crutch, as they made their way back to the chair Gai had vacated.

"What did the doctor say?" Gai finally thought to ask after the relief flooding his brain had finally calmed down enough to allow speech.

Neji kept his eyes on the floor. "The wound was shallow. I need to stay off of my leg for a week and it will heal on its own."

Gai patted Neji's knee on his uninjured leg (although Neji didn't like that either) and nodded. "Thank goodness," he murmured.

"What about Tenten and Lee?" Neji asked, still not looking up at his teacher. Gai assumed this was due to Neji's general attitude concerning his teammates, but the truth was that Neji had never seen his teacher afraid of anything before. He'd seen Gai take down men twice his size and not bat one of his ridiculous eyelashes. But today Gai had looked afraid – more than afraid, he'd been terrified, and Neji was didn't want to see that look again. It made him feel young, young and helpless. Not because he wanted to be able to comfort Gai, that was certainly not it, but because he knew that he and his teammates he put that look there. He had not been strong enough to handle himself and now his teacher was afraid. Gai's fear was a reflection of Neji's own weakness. He didn't want the reminder splashed on a face that was normally smiling.

It was a good thing Neji kept his eyes down, because his question had pulled out the very face he didn't want to see.

"I don't know yet," Gai answered after a beat, and Neji could tell from the shake in his voice that Gai had taken that moment to try and compose himself.

Not a second later, a doctor came out and walked straight up to Gai.

"You're Tenten's teacher?" he asked, looking down at the clipboard in his hands.

Gai stood up so fast he scared the doctor. "Yes, yes – is she all right?" he practically shrieked, apparently completely unaware of hospital waiting room decorum. Even Neji winced.

The doctor frowned at the walls where Gai's voice was echoing from. "…yes. Yes, she will be fine. It's lucky she didn't have a concussion or any internal swelling. Right now she's sleeping, but her tests are good and as soon as she wakes up we'll release her back to you."

Gai was crying again. Neji kept his face perfectly stoic as he stared in front of him.

They sat in silence for the better part of the next two hours, just listening to the tiny hum from the fluorescent lights above them. Gai was apparently too distracted over his concern for Lee's prognosis to try and make conversation with Neji, and that suited Neji just fine. He was never one to rock the boat.

When the doctor did finally come out, Neji looked up expectantly and cursed himself for it immediately afterward. Gai had no such reservations.

He sprang out of his chair as quickly as he had to hear after Tenten and this time nearly grabbed the doctor.

"Is he okay?!"

The doctor treating Tenten must have warned this doctor that he was about to report to a man with no regard for what was appropriate or normal human social interaction, and he took the violent, green thing yelling in his face with tremendous patience and grace.

"Lee will be fine. We were able to neutralize the poison fairly quickly, and it looks like it's completely out of his system now. The wound in his leg was shallow and it was a clean cut. But the wound in his arm hit an artery and he lost a lot of blood. We would like to keep him here overnight for observation, and to monitor his pain," the doctor explained calmly.

Gai's face appeared to have lost just as much blood as Lee. "Can I see him?"

The doctor shook his head as he looked over his clipboard, missing the way Gai's eyes filled with the same kind of fire that had fueled him to the hospital while carrying three children. "It's after hours and no visitors other than immediate family are allowed to see patients."

Gai could have opened another gate.

"He's my _student_ – surely you can make an exception-"

"You're not his father," the doctor interrupted. He had lifted his head to look Gai directly in the eye as he spoke those words, but his face remained as impassive as before.

Even Neji lifted his head at that. From the expression on his sensei's face Neji was going to have to stop a fight in a few seconds.

Gai grit his teeth and his jaw twitched. He took a few deep, shuddering breaths through his nose and kept his glare locked on the doctor. The doctor ought to be thanking every god in every universe that the man he was speaking with was a Taijutsu master with incredible self-control. Were he not, Gai would have thrown this man through the wall into the building beside the hospital.

"I want to see my student," Gai said in what might have been an attempt at calm and collected, but was so low and biting that it made even Neji shiver.

The doctor just shook his head again. "I can't let you back there. The only way to see _either-_ " and he punctuated this word as if to shame Gai for only throwing a fit over one of his kids. "- of your students would be to have them discharged to their guardian's care."

Gai stepped forward, mouth open ready to retaliate and point out that in cases like this he was their guardian, when the doctor held up a hand and interrupted again.

"But we don't recommend that. These children need rest. Even if Lee is able to be moved, Tenten shouldn't be disturbed until she wakes up on her own."

Just then, the doors behind this imposter doctor, antichrist in disguise, opened to reveal a smiling young girl in a pink top.

"Gai-sensei! Neji!" she called, waving to them and hurrying to her team.

Gai gave her a hug just as enthusiastic as the one he'd cornered Neji in, murmuring the same apologies he had given to the boy and making a pained noise at the sight of the bandage wrapped around her head.

"Gai-sensei, it's fine. The doctors told us that you opened up the gates to save us and then ran here so fast you tore a muscle in your leg," she said.

He had?

His confusion must have shown on his face because Tenten continued for him.

"They said you carried all of us and if you hadn't gotten here when you did then Lee might not have survived. Speaking of which-" she continued, turning to face the doctor and missing the way Gai threw a dramatic hand over his heart and gasped. "Now that I'm awake, we can take Lee and leave, right?"

The doctor frowned at her. "No, as I was just telling your sensei, Lee should stay here overnight for observation."

"But I heard you say the poison is out of his system," she pressed, still not noticing the way Gai was combusting beside her.

"It is," the doctor answered tensely. "However he has lost a lot of blood and it would be wise to keep him here while he recovers."

Tenten looked down, apparently taking that as an acceptable reason to keep Lee, but after a moment her head snapped back up. "But we can go stay with him, right?"

This time the doctor was not as patient. "Visiting hours are over, you can all come back tomorrow at nine a.m."

Her face warped into a scowl and she leveled a glare at the doctor. "But we're his team!"

Apparently this was an argument this heartless monster faced a lot, because his face was devoid of sympathy as he met her glare with an expressionless look of his own. "Immediate family only."

But Tenten wasn't having any of his shit. "Lee doesn't have any immediate family!"

Gai winced, and was of the opinion that the man determined to ruin his life should have done the same, but the doctor's face remained unchanged as he shook his head again, apparently his favorite thing to do.

"But I _heard_ Lee crying for Gai-sensei."

Said sensei's knees almost gave out upon hearing that. "He – he what?"

The doctor finally looked uncomfortable. He hesitated before answering, eyes flicking back and forth between the angry young woman to his left and the emotionally volatile Jounin standing in front of him. If he had expected any help from the only stable and _quiet_ member of this team then he was up shit creek. Neji continued his tried and true method of fixing his blank gaze at nothing and staying silent.

"Yes, yes earlier before we were able to neutralize the poison he was-"

"No!" Tenten interrupted. "Not five minutes ago! He was awake and crying!"

"I will be taking every member of my team and we will be leaving," Gai interjected, finally regaining some of his composure. There was no way in hell he was going to let this doctor keep Lee here overnight, alone, if he was awake and _crying_. These kids were barely thirteen years old, it didn't matter that they were ninjas who trained in combat and killing people. Sometimes they got hurt and needed an adult to sit with them and hold their hand and if this doctor couldn't _appreciate_ that-

"I would _strongly_ advise against that-" the doctor tried.

But it was no use. "Thank you for healing my students, I am grateful for your care and attention to them, but it is time for us to go."

"Lee isn't even conscious right now-"

"I just heard him crying!"

"I can carry him!"

"Yo- Gai, don't you think you should keep it down? We are in a hospital, after all."

Gai had never been so happy to hear the word 'yo'.

"Kakashi!"

His friend offered a wave and walked up to the group. "Gai, you're making quite the racket."

"The doctor won't let me see Lee!"

Gai hadn't meant to sound like a five-year-old, but he got the effect anyway.

Kakashi held up his hand again, this time as a means to pacify Gai, but he turned to the doctor.

"Are these two cleared to leave?" he asked, pointing to Neji and Tenten.

The doctor nodded. "Yes, they have been given their medicine and instructions for follow-up care."

"Medicine?" Gai asked. He hadn't seen either of his students come out with medicine.

Neji and Tenten both patted their pockets, which made a rattling sound upon impact.

"When can Lee leave?" Kakashi continued, ignoring the scene beside him.

"We would like to keep him overnight-"

"Don't trust him, Kakashi. We cannot even prove that he's a real doctor," Gai interrupted.

Kakashi ignored his friend and fought not to roll his eyes, choosing instead to raise an eyebrow and urge the doctor to continue.

"...Overnight..." the doctor paused to see if he was going to be interrupted again. "To monitor his pain level."

"What will happen when you discharge him?" Kakashi asked, still pointedly ignoring Gai.

The doctor followed Kakashi's example. "We have medicine for the pain, he's probably going to have a nasty headache, and clean bandages for his wounds- but again-"

"Don't you think it would be better for Lee to have his teacher next to him?"

The doctor was no longer on Kakashi's side. "Visiting hours are over for everyone who isn't immediate family," he answered coolly.

Kakashi nodded and closed his eye to show his smile. "Well then we will just have to take him home," he said pleasantly.

Gai could have kissed his friend! But luckily for Kakashi he resisted that particular urge. The doctor's face twitched like he wanted to scowl at them but thought better of it.

" _Alright_ ," he replied testily. "I want to wait one more hour, to see if this medicine is settling well, and then he can be discharged into your care."

It just goes to show – determination is everything. If you just try your best, gang up, and refuse to take 'no' for an answer, you can even wear a doctor down.

"Gai," Kakashi began, turning back to his friend. "I'll take these two home while you wait for Lee. Will you take him back to the Genin apartments, or your place?"

"Genin," Gai answered shakily. "He should be in his own bed, and my place is a disaster."

Kakashi nodded and then turned his attention to the other members of Gai's team. "Alright you two, let's get going."

Gai gave them each another hug, ignoring Neji's scowl when he finished by kissing the tops of their heads. "Call me if you-"

"We will, Gai-sensei," Tenten interrupted. "You just take care of Lee. Neji and I will be fine, won't we, Neji?" she asked, lightly shoving him with her elbow.

Neji stared at her with an unreadable expression. "Yeah," he answered after an awkward few seconds. "We will be fine."

"Oh, and one more thing…" Kakashi murmured, reaching into his vest. "You left the documents on the ninjas back there. I'll hand them off to the Hokage after I drop the kids off, but I wanted you to know they were recovered."

Bless Kakashi. Gai hadn't even _thought_ about the documents after the kids were hurt. He opened his mouth to thank his friend and was once again silenced by Kakashi's hand.

"I'll come check in after I've finished, alright?"

And with that, he slipped his hands into his pockets and turned to exit the hospital. Neji and Tenten looked at each other for a second before following his lead and trailing, although Neji was moving at a much slower pace because of the crutch.

Gai watched the troupe until they were out of sight and then faced the doctor again.

"One hour," he said before Gai could start up again.

"Fifty-eight minutes," Gai corrected.

As carefully as he possibly could Gai laid Lee down onto his little bed. He took extra care to cradle Lee's head and closely watched his face for any signs of discomfort. Nope – that boy was out cold. He could sleep through a hurricane. He had stayed unconscious on the entire trip from the hospital to his apartment, and even through another heated argument with the doctor about Gai's chosen method of transporting Lee.

His arms were just as good as anything else! And an unconscious Lee had proven that point by remaining asleep and oblivious despite being picked up and moved around. It made it hard for the doctor to keep up his argument.

See? Even when he was knocked out on drugs, Lee had Gai's back.

If he weren't feeling so guilty Gai would have smiled. His hand lingered on Lee's cheek when it moved to pull away from cradling his skull and his thumb fondly rubbed the smooth skin there.

 _God_ he loved this boy.

What the doctor said earlier had stung him deeply.

' _You're not his father.'_

 _I know, dammit!_

Gai just didn't like being reminded. And the _injustice_ of it all – how dare a hospital staff not allow a sensei to stay with a student while they're recovering? 'Immediate family only' – bah! That policy was just so unfair to people like Lee who don't have any! Teammates are just as good as a family! And was it really better to have a child stay alone in a cold hospital room than to bend the rules and allow them the comfort of their teacher? Even after Lee was crying for him?

That thought killed Gai, made him feel as guilty as anything else. The guilt didn't make sense, it was not Gai's fault that the hospital stuck to its foolish rules, and it was also not Gai's fault that he was not Lee's father, but he felt it deep in his heart as he watched over his sleeping student.

In any case, now they were together. Gai had his kid and he would not be leaving his side until Lee was awake and no longer in pain.

Gai reluctantly took his hand from Lee's cheek and for the third time in his life, went to pull off Lee's sandals, the hospital had already taken off his weights and leg warmers (and Gai wanted to know how they managed with the weights), and then moved to pull the covers (which included a proper blanket, Gai had seen to that) up and over him. He carefully tucked them in, taking caution around Lee's arm, and then leaned down to press a tiny kiss to Lee's forehead once he was deemed suitably comfy.

He pulled out the bottle of medicine the doctor had given him and set it on the small table beside Lee's bed. Then he went into the kitchen to get a glass of water to have on hand, moving as quickly as he could without spilling so he didn't spend any unnecessary time away from Lee. When he came back into the room he put the water beside the pills and looked around the room.

Lee's place was simple, most Genin apartments were. They were given a bedroom that connected to a kitchenette, and a small bathroom. There was no tub, only the one sink in the kitchen, a twin bed, a small low table for eating, and a tiny wooden desk with a matching chair.

It wasn't much.

But Gai's Jounin apartment was just like this. The village didn't invest a lot of money into making shinobi apartments look nice when the ninjas spent so little time there anyway. It made sense, but Gai had hoped the children's apartments would at least be a bit homier.

He was amused that Lee's apartment modeled his in more than just the furniture. His table had been pushed against the wall to make a space for Lee to work out. There were various weights on the floor and a resistance band that helped with stretching so Lee could perfect the Konoha Whirlwind. Lee also had the same picture of their team (that Gai had framed above his bed) propped up against a stack of books on his nightstand.

It warmed Gai's heart to see how similar their homes were: few comforts, lots of weights, and extra pairs of green bodysuits hanging up to dry.

Lee would probably sleep through the night, and Gai certainly hoped he would since his body needed it, but that meant Gai would be staying here as well. He pulled the desk chair to the edge of the bed so he could sit as close as possible and keep an eye on Lee's breathing.

With a sigh, Gai sank into the chair and rubbed his eyes. Thank goodness Neji and Tenten were all right, if they remained out Gai would have had to pull to more beds into the room so he could watch all of them at once. These children were going to be the death of him.

 _Better me than them_.

He leaned back in the chair and watched Lee's face. There were no wrinkles in his forehead, no scrunching of his cheeks- nothing at all to suggest he might be in any pain or discomfort. His breathing was deep and even. There was a dark purple bruise around Lee's left eye that looked ugly, but it would heal. The scattering of bruises across Lee's neck and arms would also heal. Even the wound that cost him so much blood just needed some time, and it would heal.

 _Everything will be okay…_

Gai didn't mean to fall asleep, but one moment he had been looking at Lee's sleeping face and the next he was jerking awake to a pained cry.

"Whazz wrong, Lee?"

The words were out of his mouth before he was even properly awake. He was blindly groping for Lee's hand and his eyes snapped open, completely alert, when a smaller hand squeezed his back _hard_.

"Gai sensei it hurts- my head, my arm- what happened?" Lee spoke the words rushed, as though the act of speaking was causing him this pain and he needed to get them out as fast as possible.

Gai squeezed back in what he hoped as a comforting way and reached with his other hand to grab Lee's medicine.

"Here," he murmured quietly, not wanting to add to Lee's headache. "This will help with the pain."

It was tricky to open the bottle with just one hand, but Lee had a vice like grip on him and Gai wouldn't have let go anyway. He managed to get the appropriate number of pills out and offered them to Lee, taking his now empty hand to grab a glass of water that had already been on the nightstand and offered that to Lee as well.

Lee accepted both things gratefully, tossing the pills in his mouth and chugging down the water all the while holding onto Gai's hand.

The pills were meant to work fast. Hopefully Lee would be back to sleep within a matter of minutes…

"Gai sensei…" Lee's murmur was so pained Gai thought his heart might break.

"Yes, Lee?" he answered in what he hoped was an enthusiastic way that might encourage his boy to smile through the pain. Except Gai's voice had cracked a little and he was positive that there were tears in his eyes and he was biting his lip so hard blood was liable to start shooting out of it like a geyser any second. He refused to cry when Lee was being so strong. He refused, he refused, he refused-

"Thank you…"

GOOD GOD.

"Lee-"

But Lee's eyes were already closed.

Gai made it another ten seconds, he just needed to confirm that Lee was in fact – unconscious – before he could really let go. But the very _second_ Gai had determined that 'yes, Lee was thoroughly and completely knocked out by pills' he dissolved into tears.

He wasn't exactly sure when his affections for Lee had gone beyond student and teacher and moved into father and son, but if Gai was being honest with himself then it was probably the first time they met. Yes, part of his affection stemmed from Lee's immediate unconditional admiration of him, and it fanned his ego – but it was _more_ than that. It was more than the eyebrows and the surprising shared need and passion for Taijutsu – it was instinct. That was the best way Gai could explain it. He had looked at Lee and seen him as _son_ because deep in his gut, that was what felt right.

On some level, he knew that it was wrong to look at his student like that. It nurtured a bias and that wasn't fair to Tenten or Neji. It wasn't their fault that they were placed on a team with someone else that just _happened_ to have so much in common with their sensei. What if Tenten had wound up with someone who also had a strong affinity for weapons? Would that sensei go well out of their way to help her grow into a stronger shinobi just because of their mutual interests?

That wasn't a sensei's job. They were not meant to mold their students into a likeness of themselves, they were placed in teams where the appointed teachers had the best chance of bringing out the best in the student and helping them grow and nurture their own ninja way. They were not supposed to breed tiny clones of themselves.

But Gai had really done amiss with that one. Lee was, quite literally, a tinier version of himself. To be fair, Gai had _tried_ with Neji and Tenten. He wanted them to wear the same tights, to join in on the extra practice, and to take an interest in martial arts- but Lee was the only one who bit. That was an enormous part of why Gai adored him so much; not because he was the only one, but because there had been no hesitation in his enthusiasm for following his sensei's suggestions and footsteps.

Gai told himself that he loved his students equally, and he certainly did love all of them _very very much_. He consoled his guilt with the fact that he _had_ to spend extra time with Lee. They were both Taijutsu users and Lee wasn't _able_ to practice with the same techniques that Tenten and Neji were. It couldn't be helped if he needed to put in extra time with his sensei. That wasn't because Gai favored Lee- that was just _the way it was_.

But that was a lie, because even if Lee hadn't been a Taijutsu user or didn't sport matching eyebrows, part of what made their bond so special was how they chose to _feel_ about each other. The things they had in common were their attitudes and their passion. They were two fools who ran through the world with bright eyes and big grins and just wanted to be spectacular ninjas. They wanted to do a good, honest job, help make the world a nicer place, and get along with their teammates. Their hearts were similar, and that's why they were so drawn to each other. Sweet, youthful, positive Lee was the only one who shared the same _passion_ , not just the passions themselves.

Everything else was coincidence; a pleasant coincidence, and one that Gai was infinitely grateful for, but a coincidence all the same.

The place where Gai got into trouble with his favoritism was that he _wanted_ Lee to be just as singularly devoted to him as he was. Of course, he wanted Lee to be close with his teammates, in fact he had instated 'mandatory bonding time' as a way of encouraging their friendship outside of training field, but Gai definitely enjoyed that he was also Lee's favorite.

He was failing as a teacher.

Lee didn't need a father right now. He needed a sensei. He needed someone who wasn't going to get distracted with silly affection and a desire to foster a stronger bond. They were ninjas, and Lee needed someone who could help him become a great _ninja_ , not a good son.

For the second time that night Gai thought a terrible thought, but this time he entertained it.

Gai suspected that most parents would be strongly against teaching their children forbidden jutsu, since they were forbidden for a reason. Those that would cause harm to the user were surely even further off limits when it came to children. His own father had thought differently, believing that if his son was better equipped to face the world with a dangerous technique than it outweighed the cost of using it.

He disagreed. While he was infinitely grateful to his father for everything he'd ever taught his son, Gai always imagined that if he ever had children then he wouldn't have the heart to introduce them to the jutsu his father had passed on. Now that he had used it himself and knew exactly how dangerous and painful it was, he couldn't imagine himself ever being comfortable with helping his own kin to experience that – no matter how powerful it would make them.

But, Gai needed to disregard his own feelings here. He needed to do what was _best_ for Lee, even if that meant teaching him how to suffer. Lee needed to become a Taijutsu master if he was going to succeed as a ninja in this world without Ninjutsu techniques, and a Taijutsu master needed to know every possible move available to him. If he wanted to be able to match up against Ninjutsu in battle then Lee was going to need to have a very powerful, very dangerous move up his sleeve. It just so happened that Gai knew of such a move.

He was going to teach Lee how to open the eight gates.

Morally, it was a gray area. He felt certain that Kakashi wouldn't approve, but equally certain that his own father would. They were both, or had been, excellent ninjas whom Gai respected very much. But only one of them could appreciate what it was like to be backed into a corner so far that you _had_ to resort to self-destruction just to survive. Kakashi was naturally talented, and even though he was also an extremely hard worker, he could not empathize with this kind of need.

This would kill two birds with one stone. Lee would be given the opportunity to become a _master_ with this technique, and the incredible danger it presented would make Gai feel more like a teacher and less like a parent- as he knew it should be. It was selfish to make decisions for Lee's training, and probably well being, based on his own shortcomings as a sensei, but Gai could always console himself by saying that Lee _needed_ this.

He wouldn't allow Lee to lose again. He would make him strong enough that it wouldn't matter what techniques he could or could not use. His chakra levels would become irrelevant in the face of his martial arts. Gai would devote his whole life into making Lee a strong ninja –

And he'd fallen back into parent territory.

There was no easy answer here. Gai didn't know how to separate the feelings when it came to Lee.

Mercifully, he was saved from his moral dilemma by a tiny knock on the door to the apartment.

Gai hastily dried his face and shook himself a bit to try and regain some composure so his friend couldn't see what a mess he was. He didn't want to talk about this with Kakashi, he was too confused and exhausted to form coherent thoughts on the subject without everything getting muddy. For now, it was better for Kakashi to think that Gai was purely upset over his team's injuries.

All matters of yearning for fatherhood would be benched until a later time.

With that settled, Gai stood up and went to let the other Jounin in.

His friend waved in his customary greeting and stepped inside, murmuring a 'yo' again. "The kids made it home. Tenten's parents were waiting up for her, they send their thanks to you. I couldn't go too far into the Hyuuga's residence but I'm sure Neji's…family… sends theirs as well."

Gai could cross that off of his list of things to worry about, not that he would stop, but now at least the kids were at home. "Thank you, Kakashi- for everything."

Kakashi waved his hand to dismiss his friend's gratitude and then bent to take off his sandals so he could come in and sit down. "You would do the same for me," he said absently.

And of course, Gai would. In a heartbeat and with no questions asked. But he was grateful all the same.

"How did you know we were at the hospital?" Gai asked, moving into the kitchen to make Kakashi some tea. He couldn't stay still or Kakashi was going to see 'MORALITY CRISIS' written all over his bowl cut.

He heard Kakashi sit in the chair behind him and sigh. "Those ninjas were all taken out but the documents were still there. I figured if something big enough distracted you from completing the mission then it was going to lead you to the hospital.

Kakashi hadn't meant that as a dig, because he too, likely more than anyone else in Konoha, understood that the success of a mission did not always depend on whether or not it was completed. If there were lives on the line, then those were first priority. Missions could have second chances, but lives were a one-shot sort of deal.

But it still stung a bit to hear. Gai was already feeling like a failure of a teacher, but he had also failed as a Jounin tonight.

"Gai, you did the right thing," Kakashi said, as though he could read his friend's thoughts.

He nodded quietly, then changed his mind and shook his head. "I should never have put them in that position.

"What- you mean a position where they could get hurt? Gai, they're ninjas. This is what we do. Sometimes the kids are going to get hurt. It isn't pretty, but it's going to happen. Our job isn't to shield them; it's to train them well, so they acquire as few injuries as possible. And from what Tenten told me on our walk it sounds like your students were able to hold their own for a while before getting taken out of commission," Kakashi said.

That was true, Tenten hadn't been overstating their accomplishments, but it still felt like a failure on Gai's part.

"I know how you feel about them, Gai. I know how attached you get and how strongly your emotions get involved, but you're going to find being a sensei unbearable if you can't accept that sometimes they're going to get hurt and we won't be able to do anything about it."

He knew Kakashi was right. And it didn't even make sense for him to be this upset! When it came to the sensei's, Gai was probably the most hardcore when it came to training and pushing past limits and enduring pain for the sake of growth – so why was he so upset about tonight?

"Is this because of Lee?"

 _Yes, of course it is. But it shouldn't be because that means I'm playing favorites so there has to be another reason instead so I can cope with my guilt, thank you very much._

"No," Gai lied.

There was silence behind him, but Gai knew exactly what face the other Jounin was making. Gai sighed and put down the box of tealeaves he had been trying to distract himself with.

"If Neji or Tenten ever got hurt due to poor training just because I was too focused on Lee's progress then I would never forgive myself," he said quietly.

"I know."

"But…I don't want to stop focusing on Lee's progress."

Kakashi sighed behind him. "I know, Gai. I know. But you have to remember that he's your student, he's not your kid."

There it was again, and it was true but god it _stung_. And it shouldn't! That should not hurt to hear – it was a statement of fact, but it felt like another failure.

If things had gone a little differently in life, if Gai had been a few years older the first time he met Lee, or if Lee had been placed on a different team…Gai probably would have adopted him. As it was, Gai knew that parents were explicitly _not_ to be placed in charge of their kin. It made things complicated in teams. Who could really be certain that fairness would be exercised when parental love is at play? Should a leader have to make a call where one member is put in more danger than another, undoubtedly which would be picked? For crying out loud, Gai _wasn't_ even Lee's parent and he was already displaying this problematic behavior with his training!

"You're right. I will do a better job of being fair to the others and stop giving Lee so much attention-"

"Gai. You don't have to stop giving Lee extra attention. He needs it, especially from you. And what you two share… I know it's special for both of you. And Tenten and Neji seem perfectly fine with the amount of attention they're receiving from you. In fact, Neji seems to think you're overdoing it as it is."

Despite how crappy he felt, that made the corners of Gai's lips twitch upward.

"Those two know that Lee needs you," Kakashi continued. "They also recognize that he doesn't have parents, or family at all, whereas they do. Tenten believes that's a large part of why you're devoting so much attention to Lee."

She wasn't _wrong_ ; it's just that there was more to it than that.

Gai nodded, to show he was listening.

"They both, although Neji was pretty reluctant to admit it, think you're doing a good job- and I know Lee agrees. I'm not telling you to remember that he's a student and not a child for _their_ benefit," Kakashi said slowly.

What? For whose then?

He turned around so his friend could see the confusion on his face.

Kakashi looked at him very seriously. "Sometimes students die. If anything should happen, I just don't want to see you destroyed…" he paused and frowned in concentration for a moment before continuing. "It's safer… it's safer if you don't get too attached."

Gai's heart clenched. He understood completely what Kakashi was saying, and he knew better than anyone else that his friend's words were born out of his own experiences. Kakashi's losses haunted him and darkened his heart. He was still an excellent shinobi, but Gai knew he was never the same after losing his teammates.

And yet…

Gai turned his gaze to the sleeping boy who was causing his heart so much trouble and smiled sadly.

"You might be right, Kakashi, but it's already too late."

 _7 months later._

Taking Kakashi's advice was impossible, but Gai still felt like he should have done it.

He had never, _never_ before in his life felt the same kind of fear that wracked him when he saw sand wrap itself around Lee's arm and leg and heard the scream that followed.

This was his fault.

If he hadn't taught Lee about the gates, he wouldn't have been weakened to the point where he couldn't dodge. If he hadn't _led Lee to death's doorstep_ -

Gai was disgusted with himself.

It had never occurred to him that Lee could lose. He thought that surely if Lee could access the gates then that was it, the battle would be over and Lee could leap away as the victor. And if he had gone against anyone else, that is probably exactly what would have happened. Konoha wasn't prepared for Gaara.

Lee wasn't prepared for Gaara.

 _Gai_ hadn't prepared Lee for Gaara.

The teacher had failed the student, and this failure was going to cost Lee his future as a shinobi.

After the medi-nins had taken Lee away, Kakashi pulled Gai off of the arena and tried to help distract him from his panicked misery, but it hadn't worked.

The second the match ended Gai took off for the hospital and begged to see Lee.

But of course, because these were hospital's favorite words to say to him, _it was immediate family only_.

Gai had gone to the bathroom and thrown up everything in his stomach.

This was guilt and misery unlike anything he'd ever known.

 _I've ruined Lee's life_.

He stayed there, knees on the floor and head on the lip of the toilet, cramped in that tiny stall, and sobbed.

Lee! His sweet Lee! His promising, splendid, beloved student! Lee had fought so well, he'd pushed so hard, he'd absolutely given that fight his all and yet-

Sometimes the kids were going to get hurt and there was nothing the senseis could do about it.

It didn't matter how many times Gai heard it, or experienced it, the point never got any easier to stomach.

This couldn't be happening…

No, you know what no. It _wasn't_ happening. Lee wasn't going to lose his future as anything- shinobi or otherwise. If Lee's arm and leg couldn't be healed then they could cut off Gai's and Lee could have them. There must be something- some _way_ , there had to be. Gai was going to find it. If he couldn't, he'd run ten thousand laps around the village on his hands with Tenten on top of one foot and Neji on the other. No, he was going to figure something out. He wasn't going to fail Lee even more by wasting time crying on the floor of a bathroom- he was going to go out and read every medical book in the world and figure _something_ out.

No one and nothing were going to take away Lee's dream.

Gai _would not let that happen!_

He was going to go find a doctor and make sure they knew Gai's limbs were up for grabs while he waited until he was allowed to see Lee.

He would not fail him again.

And fortunately that story had a happy ending. Gai got to profess his love and eternal devotion to Lee in the form of _vowing to die_ should his child be taken from him, and Lee finally got to hear exactly how much he was loved.

It was with that love that he found the courage to undergo the surgery. And while it was an uphill battle in healing Lee's body, since he didn't seem to respect it's limitations (because Ebisu was right and Lee was every inch the fool Gai was), Lee had come out he other side stronger and more powerful than ever.

When the time came for his students to take the Chuunin exam a second time, Gai could not have been prouder of their performances. His team had blossomed into a group of fine, young ninja and they had two wonderful years together after their promotions.

And then came a day where their team was ripped apart. The thing Gai feared most in the world happened, right in the middle of a war when there was no time to grieve properly.

The loss of one student was already too much to bear, but Gai absolutely could not exist in a world without Lee.

When opening the seventh gate hadn't worked, and Lee saved him from truth seeking balls and put himself in immediate danger from the foe that had already taken out a precious student, Gai prepared himself to die.

He wished there was more time to say a proper goodbye to Lee, to offer him more wisdom or tell him how much he loved him- but there just wasn't time.

So in the spirit of the sacrifice his father had once made for him, Gai thought of Lee, and opened the eighth gate.

 _After the war._

The last thing Gai could remember was thinking about someone precious to him…!

He had opened the eighth gate! Was he dead?

Gai slowly opened his eyes, wincing as he slowly became more aware of his body and just how sore it was. It looked like he was in the hospital in Konoha, which seemed like a strange place to be if he was dead…

He turned his head to the side as much as he was able and saw a mop of dark hair he knew to be Lee's on the bed next to him. It looked like Lee was asleep, sitting in a chair with his face pressed down into the mattress, as close to his sensei as he could get.

Oh, that made more sense. He'd ended up in a good place after all.

But- but if Gai was dead and Lee was here-

No!

No, no he had chosen to open that gate so he could save Lee – Lee could not be dead, he absolutely could not!

He tried to speak, but all that came out was a croaking noise that made his throat ache.

That was all it took, though.

Lee's head immediately snapped up and revealed his round, dark eyes wider than Gai had ever seen them. Why were they so red and puffy? Why was Lee covered in dirt? Was he dead or not?!

"Gai-sensei," Lee whispered, fresh tears pooling into the corners of his eyes. His hands moved like he was going to seize his teacher's arm, but he stopped himself, casting a scared glance down and then back at his teacher's face. Was Lee afraid to touch him?

Gai could only make that same noise again. His lips tried to say 'water', and fortunately Lee was able to understand him.

With and incredibly steady hand for someone who was still crying, Lee gently cupped the back of his sensei's head and carefully lifted him a bit so he could pour water into Gai's mouth with his other hand.

Oh, god that was incredible. Gai would have thanked Lee, and whoever came up with water, if he could have made speech, but his throat didn't seem to want that.

He closed his eyes when he'd had his fill, hoping that Lee would know what that meant- and of course he did. They knew everything about each other.

Lee gently laid his head back down and placed the water glass on what Gai assumed must have been a table next to his bed. His other hand remained awkwardly hovering above Gai's arm.

God, why couldn't Gai speak! This was so frustrating!

He gazed up at his student.

Lee smiled at him and blinked tears out of his dark eyes.

It was a terrible sight, but it reminded Gai that he didn't need his voice to talk to Lee.

He blinked several times in rapid-fire succession. It took Lee a second to catch on, a small frown pulling at his face because he initially assumed his teacher was having some kind of spasm, and then realization dawned on him.

"Gai-sensei! I understand, I'm listening."

Gai had only blinked, "Lee."

He taught each of his students Morse code in the month before the Chuunin Exam. Neji picked it up quickly, but dismissed it as a skill he would never need to use again. Tenten found it incredibly frustrating and reasoned, like Neji, that the need to use it was unlikely to come up when most ninja villages traded secrets and information in a different code anyway. Gai told them that if they were ever captured as a team it would be good for them to have a secret way to communicate, but Tenten pointed out that learning universal Morse code wasn't the key to secrecy.

Only Lee had been interested.

Studying and book work were not Lee's forte, but he had thrown himself into learning this- pressuring himself with self-imposed rule challenges. It had taken him the full month, but he became proficient enough in it that when he and Gai had been trapped in a dojo and forced to fight each other they were able to communicate.

Now, Gai was blinking out his thoughts to Lee. The principles were the same, and Lee was never more focused than when his sensei was talking to him.

'What happened'

He waited for Lee to process his blinks and would have smiled if he could when recognition crossed Lee's face.

"You opened the eighth gate, and you… well, to be honest I'm not really too sure what happened, but Naruto-kun was able to keep you alive. You've been unconscious ever since and that was three days ago," Lee explained.

"Naruto-kun won the war. He, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-san, and Sasuke-san went into some… I'm not really too sure what happened. But it's over…"

'Are you alright'

Gai wasn't trying to make him cry, but apparently this was not a safe question for Lee. He tried very hard to give Gai a big, reassuring smile, but immediately began sobbing and ruined the effect.

They had seen each other cry, and cried on each other, hundreds of times over the years. Gai and Lee were president and vice president of the 'collapsing into each other's arms while sobbing and yelling each other's names' club. But this was different, because Gai couldn't move his wretched body and pull Lee into a comforting embrace. He felt his own tears, unpleasantly warm against his cheeks as they rolled out of his eyes, and hoped that Lee would still know Gai was here with him and sharing his pain.

He wanted to squeeze Lee's hands but the most he was able to do was twitch a few fingers.

Stupid eight gates.

Lee looked pitifully at his sensei and hastily wiped his face. "I'm sorry, Gai-sensei!"

' _Why are you sorry, Lee? You've done nothing wrong_ ' Gai wanted to blink, but the door opened and interrupted their moment.

"Gai-san, you're awake! This is great, great news…" the doctor said, coming over and checking on the machine Gai was hooked up to. He hadn't even noticed before that there were tubes sticking out of his right arm.

How had he missed that?

"Lee here hasn't left your side since he brought you in," the doctor continued, either unaware or uncaring of the fact that the other two men in the room were still quietly crying.

But Gai needed to be fair to this doctor. If the war had ended three days ago then she was probably overworked and surrounded by crying people. She probably only had the time to get in, do her job, and get out. She was messing with the machine, then listening to Gai's heartbeat, and then lifting up his arm to check his wrist and take his pulse. Gai didn't catch the way Lee carefully studied his face as the doctor performed this last task. His eyes were searching for the slightest sign of discomfort.

But everything was sore and her touch hadn't registered against that.

"I'll be back in a minute with your medicine," she said before departing, leaving two crying boys behind.

Lee turned and smiled sadly at his sensei. Apparently seeing the doctor do it had made Lee sure it was okay, he gently placed his hands on Gai's arm and rubbed very lightly.

"Don't worry, Gai-sensei. I won't leave your side!" Lee swore through his tears.

Gai wanted to tell Lee that it was okay, and it would be good for Lee to go home, take a hot shower, eat a good meal, sleep in a decent bed (because that hospital chair was going to give him back problems), and that he could come back once he was rested a bit. But that was a lot to blink out in Morse code, and the truth was that Gai was feeling a bit selfish and didn't want Lee to leave.

'Thank you' he blinked, instead.

Lee smiled again and sniffed.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, just looking at each other while Lee continued to lightly rub his arm.

He blinked at Lee again and once more, wished he could give his boy a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm glad you're okay too, Gai-sensei," Lee answered, his tears starting to pick up again.

Gai blinked twenty four times at Lee and felt tears clouding his own vision.

Lee choked on a sob and squeezed his sensei's arm.

"I love you too, Gai-sensei!"

Lee stayed by his side for another two days until a nurse came and _insisted_ that he either go home and take care of himself or allow himself to be admitted so doctors could do it for him.

Tenten had brought him some meals when she came to visit, because she knew Lee wouldn't even think about eating otherwise, but he had gone almost a week without a shower or more than two hours of continuous sleep. Lee insisted that Tenten stay with their sensei while he went home, terrified that Gai would wake up alone, and in return he promised to complete every item on Tenten's 'Lee go take care of yourself' checklist- including getting a proper night's rest.

By the time Lee came back Gai was awake and able to speak. The pain was mostly gone from his body, and now it was just a matter of letting his muscles heal before he could get up and begin physical therapy.

The doctors had told him he would likely be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life after the damage to his right leg. Lee had taken that news much worse than he had.

But Gai wasn't sad. He had been prepared to give his life to protect his precious people, and Lee was alive and healthy and whole here in front of him- so no, Gai wasn't sad.

It would probably be inconvenient, but wheelchair-style jutsus were an untapped market, and Gai was nothing if not determined.

After he said goodbye to Tenten, whose turn it was now to go home and sleep, he grabbed Lee's hand the way he had been hoping to a few days ago.

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei! Are you alright? Can I get you anything?" Lee asked, squeezing back _hard_.

Gai laughed, and it felt so good to do that. "Lee, I am perfect. My precious student is here and I was told we would be having beef noodles for lunch."

He meant it too.

"The only thing I want right now is to hear all about you opening the sixth gate!"

Tenten had already filled him in briefly, she only knew that Lee had _done_ it but hadn't actually been there to see it. Gai had been conscious during that time but he had already opened the eighth and wasn't able to discuss it with his student.

Lee obliged his sensei's wishes and told him all about the training he had undergone while Gai was on his mission with Naruto, how he was finally able to open it, and said it all as humbly as though it were something anyone could do.

"Ah, my Lee! I'm so proud of you. You truly have become a splendid ninja," Gai said, squeezing Lee's hand again. They hadn't let go of each other since Lee had sat down.

"It's all thanks to you, Gai-sensei. You turned me into a splendid ninja," Lee replied, smiling and giving his sensei a thumb up with his free hand.

Gai shook his head. "I only helped, Lee. A sensei can only guide their student. We cannot put in the work for them. That you did on your own, and you should be proud."

Lee had always struggled with this. His cheeks turned pink and it made him look just as young as the day Gai first told him that he would train with Lee all his life.

"It sounds like we have accomplished our goals, Lee," Gai said, and before Lee could be sad about what that might mean Gai continued. "So now we must make new ones!"

"A new goal?"

Gai closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, Lee. It is only with our goals motivating us that we can push past our limits and grow as ninjas. They are _essential_ if we are to keep moving forward," he said wisely.

If Lee's writing hand was free he would have taken out his notebook and recorded that. "What will your new goal be, Gai-sensei?"

Hmm…

"Well… it sounds training and missions are going to become a bit more complicated for me once I leave the hospital. I've never heard of a shinobi in a wheelchair who was able to successfully stay on duty… so I suppose - my goal is to become an excellent shinobi even though I must use a wheelchair!" Gai declared.

Lee beamed at him and closed his fist in determination. "Then my new goal will be to help make you into an excellent shinobi who must use a wheelchair! I will devote my whole life to it!" he swore.

And he meant it.

It was a good thing Gai's muscles didn't hurt anymore because he pulled Lee into a hug so tight that it might have killed him a few days ago.

 _Two years later._

Alright. Enough of the bullshit. This had happened _one too many times_ and Gai was done.

Lee was in the hospital _again_ after getting hurt on a mission he had recently come back from with Tenten. And _once again_ Gai had made the mistake of trying to visit his boy _after hours_. He was wiser now, and thought about lying and just telling doctors that he was Lee's father, but Lee had been in the hospital a lot in his life and Gai had been told 'no' a lot and never did learn to take that gracefully…

The entire hospital staff had his name on a list of 'difficult visitors' they were meant to watch out for.

It was crap!

Lee, on the other hand, was the most delightful patient in the world, and after having spent so much of his childhood recovering in a hospital bed the doctors and nurses had come to know and adore him. But even for the golden patient _Lee_ they were unwilling to bend the rules.

But today Lee was going to be discharged. The doctors had told Gai, quite plainly, that he could come pick Lee up at nine o'clock. Of course, Lee was nineteen now and didn't need to be discharged into the care of another adult, but everyone knew he would wait for his sensei anyway.

The usual discharge plan involved getting Lee, challenging the doctors to a proper battle, and then grabbing lunch to make up for all the crappy hospital food. Then Gai would take Lee home, fuss over him for an hour or so, and then insist that they began training again immediately.

It was a tried and true plan that had served them well over the years.

But there was no time for lunch today! There was something much, much more important he and Lee needed to do.

There wasn't even time for _training_.

Never again would that minion of the antichrist doctor hold up his palm to Gai and utter the three worst words in their language: _Immediate family only_. Never again was Gai going to have to wait for _visiting_ hours and sit in a waiting room while he fantasized about whipping his wheelchair at someone. No, today Gai was going to see to it that this particular issue never came up again.

He stayed in the waiting area of the hospital, he had only come an hour too early, and hoped that someone might be new and unaware of his poor reputation with the hospital. Shouldn't they feel pity for a poor man in a wheelchair? He'd given his leg to save Konoha! Did that count for nothing! Ah!

But Gai only saw the faces of doctors he recognized, and he was forced to wait the entire hour before Lee came running out, bright and beaming at him.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

They embraced briefly, but heartily, and then left before Gai remembered to give his least favorite doctor the stink-eye.

But they only made it as far as walking outside before Gai turned his wheelchair to face his student and spoke very seriously.

"Lee."

Large, round eyes flicked up at him followed by a dutiful salute. "Yes, Gai-sensei!" he always answered his teacher in the affirmative, even when he didn't know what the question was.

Years ago Gai would have done this differently. He always imagined that he would have taken Lee out to a nice dinner, they would enjoy a good meal, and then Gai would very seriously ask Lee for his own thoughts on what family was and what he wanted in his own life before making this proposal.

But now?

Gai was _done_. He had Lee had been through hell and back together, he knew they were family, he knew what Lee meant to him – and Lee knew it too.

So there was no time for dinner- no time to beat around the bush. This should have happened when Lee was four years old. Gai wasn't too young anymore, he wasn't on active duty, and although it was fifteen years late it was _time_.

"I want to adopt you."

He heard Lee's breath catch, but they held their eye contact. With the other near, they were fearless – an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. They weren't going to entertain fear here – it was a silly thing. And Lee also knew, this was long overdue.

But fear wasn't what made his voice catch when he tried to respond. Fear wasn't what made his heart hammer like it was working on its own self-imposed rule to beat ten thousand times before Lee took his next breath. Fear didn't have tears pricking the corner of his eyes.

"You- you mean-"

Gai nodded. Lee didn't need to say anymore. "I should have done this fifteen years ago, but I was too young then, and I wanted to be your teacher. I hope you can forgive an old man for taking so long, Lee."

Gai wasn't old, though, he was just dramatic.

But his soon-to-be-official son was also dramatic. Lee flung himself into Gai's arms, navigating around the wheelchair with the practiced ease of someone who routinely flung themselves into these same arms. They both let their manly tears fall and let their sobs go, practically yelling into each other's ears.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

It would be another ten minutes or so before either of them was in any state to go outside and find the appropriate authorities, and since neither of them had any idea who that would be- it meant Kakashi.

Once their faces were reasonably clean of tears, Gai clasped Lee's hand with one of his own and brought the other to grasp the back of Lee's neck.

"I would be very proud to call you my son!" he yelled.

"I would be very proud to call you my father, Gai-sensei!"

Even though Lee was probably incapable of calling him anything other than 'Gai-sensei', although 'dad-sensei' had kind of nice ring to it…

"Let's go, Lee!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!"

Kakashi was happily tucking into his favorite book when the door to his office unceremoniously burst open to reveal two beautiful green beasts.

"Kakashi!" Gai bellowed, wheeling in so fast Kakashi was sure he was going to barrel into the desk and destroy it.

"Gai, is everything okay?" Kakashi asked, keeping his eyes on his book.

"Yes, everything is wonderful! But I must ask for a minute of your time for something very important," Gai said happily, grinning at Lee when he came to stand beside him.

"Oh?"

"You have the power to marry people, yes?"

Now _that_ got Kakashi to look up. His eye was wide and staring at his friend.

"…yes…" he answered cautiously.

"Good! Then I'm sure you also have the power to help us. Kakashi, I would like to adopt Lee," Gai said proudly.

' _Oh, thank god.'_ Kakashi thought.

"It's about time," Kakashi murmured. He smiled at the pair of them and leaned over to open up one of his desk drawers. When he sat back up he was holding a folder labeled 'When the time comes' in his untidy scrawl. He flipped it open and began shifting through the documents there.

Kakashi had been prepared for this day for a long time. During his first week as Hokage he sat down and filled out forms he was positive he would need to use at one point or another, and just underneath the letter he had written apologizing on behalf of a future Naruto for problems he might cause concerning diplomacy in other countries, was the adoption form for Gai and Lee. Everything was filled out save for their signatures.

He handed the paper over to Gai and allowed himself to feel very clever for being so prepared.

Gai picked it up with trembling hands and looked it over, although how he could see when he was crying so much was a mystery Kakashi had never been able to solve.

Kakashi handed him a pen without needing to be asked and grinned when Gai scrawled his big, dramatic signature and then turned to hand Lee the pen. Lee's signature was modeled after his sensei's and took up much more space than the line allotted. But there they were.

Kakashi added the finishing touch, the date, next to his own signature that he'd left years ago and then capped his pen.

"Congratulations Gai, you just became a father."

Gai probably didn't hear him. He and Lee were clutching each other and sobbing again.

Ever the good friend, Kakashi took this time to get up and make copies of the certificate so both men could go home with one. He also made an extra because he knew Gai would stop by the hospital after he left.

"So," Kakashi murmured after he came back into the room and handed them their copies. "How will you celebrate?"

Gai turned to his son and beamed. "Lee was just discharged, so a proper meal is in order, and then we need to go tell Tenten."

Kakashi nodded at them. "Good plan."

"Thank you, Kakashi," Gai said. "You've always been there for us, and I'm glad you are the one we must come to today."

Aw, shucks.

The Hokage waved a dismissive hand at his friend and picked up his book again. "No trouble at all, Gai. I'm happy I could help."

And he meant it.

The tiny family left the Hokage to his important reading and went to get curry, because even though it was only nine thirty in the morning, it seemed wrong to eat anything other than curry for their celebration meal.

Lee felt the same way he had all those years ago when he first stepped out wearing his green tights. He wanted to stop everyone they saw on the street and show them their paper. He wanted to leap from building to building and scream that he was Maito Gai's son. This was, without question, the happiest he had ever been.

" _I will not disappoint my father as his son! If I ever do… I'll do ten thousand push-ups with Tenten's golem on my back!"_ Lee swore to himself.

Gai felt exactly the same way. He had been leaking a steady stream of tears since they left Kakashi's office, and felt very much inclined to just stop right in the middle of the street and continue hugging Lee until all of their happy tears were gone.

" _I am going to give him the life I always wanted to. And if I ever fail him as a father, I will do ten thousand one-armed pushups while Lee sits on my back!"_

They never did have to do those push-ups.


End file.
